


Flowers that grow from cracked pavements

by ChaNssi



Category: VIXX
Genre: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Arranged Marriage, Jaehwan is totally kick ass I love him, Kinda like Victorian Era women, M/M, More warnings and tags as the chapters go by, My omegas are sadly oppressed, but only the high society ones, but they aren't weak, depressed characters, idk what HB is yet but he's pretty awesome too, wonshik is a smitten fool
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-15
Updated: 2019-07-13
Packaged: 2019-08-02 13:55:33
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 35,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16306454
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChaNssi/pseuds/ChaNssi
Summary: “Don’t jump,” Sanghyuk's voice pierced the stillness of the night.The man nearly lost his balance, seeing how fast he whipped his head towards the source of the offending voice. His hand leapt to clutch at his chest and he visibly relaxed when he realised it wasn’t anyone who knew him. It was just a waiter. But, it was the waiter from earlier.Mustering up all the confidence he had got, he narrowed his eyes, sending the waiter a glare. “It’s none of your business,” Hakyeon hoped his voice sounded just as hostile as it did in his mind. Apparently not, because the waiter only stepped in farther, much to Hakyeon’s chagrin.





	1. For better or for worse

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there!
> 
> Please do not proceed if you're not comfortable with suicidal tendencies and thoughts.  
> It starts out a bit heavy, and I guess the entire work is going to end up being heavy.  
> Although, i do plan on it being a happy ending, I can't say for sure that all the characters will end up being happy.
> 
> This chapter definitely has scenes that might end up triggering those sensitive.  
> So, please, do not proceed if you're not completely sure of it.

 

 

 

Sanghyuk had never understood the appeal of eyes, and they myriads of ways they were usually described in, in romance novels. But, looking into those of the man stood far enough away that he couldn’t be heard inhaling sharply, or close enough that he was yet able to make out the lines of distress etched into the very skin of his forehead, Sanghyuk felt he understood. He knew now, why literature was so poetic and vivid at times.

What captivated him was that those eyes were neither green nor blue, neither were they amber with speckles of gold. They were dark brown, almost nebulous. They were beautiful, and Sanghyuk knew, if he were to look deep into them, they would hold the secrets of the entire universe within them. Stargazing would presumably become his favourite pastime. They looked like magma, settled down and hardened after a turbulent volcanic eruption.

He couldn’t look away.

The man’s sheer white dress shirt fluttered, the wind whipping it back gracefully around him, as he stood with his head held high, his posture an epitome of poise, elegance and confidence. And yet, Sanghyuk could tell with every fibre in his being, that the man had absolutely no desire of standing at the entrance to the Wedding Hall.

“You’re not listening to me and my struggles, are you?” Jaehwan waved a hand In front of Sanghyuk’s eyes.

Sanghyuk hummed in response. There was something about the man that drew Sanghyuk in, almost like a moth drawn to a flame, danger galore. It could possibly be those eyes.

A whiff of a sweet scent invaded his senses when the direction of the wind changed, and Sanghyuk inherently knew, the man was an Omega.

Jaehwan followed Sanghyuk’s line of sight when the other did not deem him with a reply, and promptly shook his head. “Don’t even bother, Sanghyuk,”

That caught his attention. “Why would you say that?” He asked, his eyes not straying from the captivating image of the man.

As if he could feel Sanghyuk’s eyes on him, the man shifted uncomfortably in his position, yet he did not drop his stance. His eyes seemed to search for Sanghyuk’s but, before he could find him, a hand slipped around the man’s waist, essentially snatching his attention.

“That’s why,” Jaehwan muttered.

Sanghyuk watched as a slightly taller man pulled up and spoke to the Omega, his grip tight on the man’s waist. He was bound to be an Alpha, and considering how comfortable he seemed with touching the Omega in public, he knew him quite well. It was socially unacceptable to touch an Omega, even if just on the hand, when out in society.

“I hate to break it to you, but, it’s more likely the man will sprout wings than for you to even hold a decent conversation with him,” Jaehwan noted, pushing his hands into the pockets of his suit pant. It was cool, and it was only going to get colder as the evening passed and transcended into night.

Sanghyuk smiled in response, watching the man get pulled towards the banquet hall. “I’ll take those odds,” He smoothed his tux down, and straightened his bow and pasted a smile on his face. He also straightened his spectacles, as non-prescription as they were. Those were the basic requirements of someone like him, after all. He did not belong on that side of the world, with all its glitz and glamour. His life was much, much more humble, if not downright plain.

He watched, and silently sighed, releasing tension he hadn’t known he possessed, as the man was steered towards the plush seats arranged with care around intricately decorated round set dining tables, and not towards the podium. At least, it wasn’t that Omega’s wedding.

“I’m pretty sure he’s mated.” Jaehwan commented, before making his way to meet his insufferable family, leaving Sanghyuk at the Waiter’s counter.

“And he looks dejected,” Sanghyuk muttered to no one in particular.

One’s availability status shouldn’t have to decide whether they were allowed to be happy or not. All he wanted was to make that man smile once, to erase the look of abject sadness, to witness if the man truly was as beautiful as his head had traitorously already conjured him out to be.

 

~>▲<~

 

If Hakyeon were the sky, he would be dark and stormy, ready to bring about destruction.

If Hakyeon were a building, he’d be burning down to the ground in ashes, the flames licking him top to bottom.

If Hakyeon were the ocean, he would be a sea of gasoline, toxic.

But, alas, he was just a man. One with absolutely no choice regarding anything as such.

He raised his head slightly, not entirely letting his attention linger as men, guests, joined their table. He wasn’t required to greet them either way, all he was needed to do was to sit at the table, prim and proper and let his father and his Alpha, his husband, do the talking.

His lips remained sealed, his glass of tea untouched, the food in the expensive china placed in front of him just as it was when delivered, yet his mind was raging on the inside. It was burning with fervour, his insides heating with an anger that could soon become all consuming, but he couldn’t let it. Hell, he couldn’t even if he wanted to.

The jewellery that he was forced to wear, the bracelets that adorned his wrists, felt more like shackles that he couldn’t break out of than any instrument that was meant to make the wearer feel worthy, attractive. He hated them. But, most of all, he hated the band of platinum that wound around his ring finger, the very same that made it clear to even a stranger that he belonged to someone else like he was property, not a human being.

Hakyeon hated weddings. It was not a happy occasion as most made it seem. It was just the delivery of an Omega from their parents to their in laws and husband. If Hakyeon were ever asked to describe it, he would compare it to a game played by kids, one called “Passing the parcel”.

He felt a hand, high up on his thigh, squeezing the flesh there, uncaring that they were in a place with the eyes of society all on them. Hakyeon startled at the sudden touch, his eyes flashing to his mate, his cheeks warm with embarrassment. He did not want to be treated like a play-thing, it did not make him feel wanted.  

He did not speak, yet there was a silent question in his gaze. Omegas were to remain silent unless spoken to in their society. And he had no intention of suddenly forgetting etiquette in front of those deemed important.

“Eat.” Taekwoon muttered, low enough that Hakyeon was the only one to have heard it. It wasn’t as much a statement as it was an order. Of course, Hakyeon would have to eat to keep up with the appearances.

He picked up the fork after nodding slightly, letting it pierce a piece of boiled broccoli, wondering vaguely what it would feel like to have someone pierce his heart the way the tiny spokes on the golden fork did the piece of boiled vegetable. Not requiring another reprimand, he bit down on the piece, promptly snatching up the glass of water to dunk it down with.

His throat put up a fight, not letting the food go down easily. It felt more like he was forced to swallow a handful of mud, the tiny piece grating against the constriction in his throat. It tasted like nothing. Yet, Hakyeon dug in, making sure his hand and eye coordination did not slip as he forced himself to clear the plate. As expected, nobody bothered asking him if he was fine.

There was another slight squeeze of his thigh, this time more towards appreciation than reprimand.

As he sipped on the chute of Champagne Taekwoon had placed in his hands, he listened in on the conversation the other men were having.

“My son-in-law knows just what’s best for business. His most recent endeavour regarding the telecom shares was expertly executed,” his father was saying, as his husband looked around the small table proudly.

Hakyeon zoned out, it was not of interest, and even if he did seem to have an opinion, it was not his place. Instead, he let his eyes roam around the well decorated room, with its crystal chandeliers and hand painted ceilings, velvety floor length drapes and bejewelled walls. He thought it gaudy, not beautiful.

Hakyeon felt a prickle at the back of his neck, the same sensation of warmth spread across his neck and cheeks as it did when he had waited for Taekwoon to join him before entering the hall. He was curious. Wondering just how long he’d have before someone would berate him about looking around without permission Hakyeon turned his head slightly and looked on from the periphery of his vision.

His breath caught in his throat when his eyes met those of a taller male, an Alpha, obviously, with the way he carried himself with confidence. He looked away, his heart beating fast, only to turn back to stare. He couldn’t help himself.

“What is it, Hakyeon?” Taekwoon had his hand digging into the flesh at Hakyeon’s thigh, all the while his face had a polite smile painted on it.

Hakyeon flinched at the pain. That was certainly going to bruise. He shook his head minutely. “I was only looking around. The hall, it’s beautiful,” he muttered, his head bowed low in apology.

Taekwoon’s grip hadn’t loosened. “This is nothing. Don’t you remember the extravagance of our wedding?” His voice was filled with pride as if the only thing that mattered was how much money one could spend on making such an affair a success, as if it was a bragging right.

Hakyeon’s father laughed heartily at that. “Of course it was. It was my only son-in-law’s wedding, after all,”

Hakyeon clenched his fists, tight. Not his son’s, but his son-in-law’s only wedding. Hakyeon would’ve screamed if he could. But, then again, the wedding hall of someone he knew not even the name of was hardly appropriate. “Of course, father, alpha. I was merely observing,”

“Let Hakyeon look around. It isn’t a crime,” It was his paternal aunt, the only person ever to tell Hakyeon he was allowed to dream. He smiled gratefully at her, knowing it would not make a difference, no matter what she said. He was resigned to his fate, after all.

“Of course,” Taekwoon replied, looking as if he couldn’t believe he was being rebuked about the way he treated his mate, much less from a woman. He finally let Hakyeon’s thigh go, but only after giving him a warning glance. As if the burn on Hakyeon’s thigh wasn’t enough of disapproval. As if, he didn’t know what awaited him at home.

The remainder of the evening, Hakyeon sat in place, not lifting his head, unless he was directly addressed to.

It was miserable.

 

~>▲<~

 

When Sanghyuk stepped out of the hall into the balcony in hopes of grabbing some fresh air of the beautiful moonlit night, the last thing he’d expected to find was the man from the evening stood on the parapet wall, looking down into the dark alley lining the backside of the not so high-rise building, as if ready to plunge into the abyss.

It was the shallow, rapid breaths that caught his attention at first. It sounded almost like someone was having a panic attack, and Sanghyuk wondered if he should just step back in, pretend he never heard the soft whimpers that were leaving the person’s lips, but before he could, his attention snapped towards the silhouette of a man, crouched in the near total darkness, unwind from the foetal position he had seemed to have assumed and step on to the parapet wall.

It was him.

He watched as the man muttered to himself, all Sanghyuk could hear were snippets along the lines of how it’s better he does it soon and how it might not be as scary.

“Don’t jump,” Sanghyuk's voice pierced the stillness of the night.

The man nearly lost his balance, seeing how fast he whipped his head towards the source of the offending voice. His hand leapt to clutch at his chest and he visibly relaxed when he realised it wasn’t anyone who knew him. It was just a waiter. But, it was the waiter from earlier.

Mustering up all the confidence he had got, he narrowed his eyes, sending the waiter a glare. “It’s none of your business,” Hakyeon hoped his voice sounded just as hostile as it did in his mind. Apparently not, because the waiter only stepped in farther, much to Hakyeon’s chagrin.

“No, but you shouldn’t jump,” Sanghyuk tried to approach as slowly as he could, almost like he was a wild animal approaching its prey.

“Who are you to tell me what I can and what I can’t do,” Hakyeon muttered. Of course, the waiter was an alpha as well. Of course, he would think it was utterly acceptable to tell Hakyeon what to do just because he was an omega. “I’m perfectly capable of making decisions for myself,” He said it loud and clear. It felt nice to speak his mind.

Sanghyuk looked genuinely taken aback for a heart-beat. _What?_ And then it dawned on him, as his mind flashed with images of how the man wasn’t allowed to speak, or even to order for himself what he wanted to eat. Of course, the man would think the same of him, seeing as he too was an alpha, just like the ones that surrounded the man.

He put his hands up in the air, a gesture of surrender, and spoke. “That’s not what I meant. I don’t think you’re dumb,” And maybe that was the wrong thing to say, the man looked even more guarded.

Hakyeon wondered if the waiter was being as true as his expression made him out to be. Such people were extremely rare, and if any, far, far away from where Hakyeon was, because all that surrounded him was malice and greed. Never humility and humanity.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean for it to sound that harsh. What I meant was, the building is hardly five floors high. Falling from this height might not actually kill you. You might have to suffer from broken bones, and that’s the best case scenario,” Sanghyuk clarified, stepping in closer towards the wall Hakyeon stood on. He was almost on level with the man.

The…. _best_ case scenario? Hakyeon didn’t want to imagine what the worst case would be. He gulped, as he turned away from the waiter to look down. There was no illumination whatsoever, all Hakyeon could make out were the vague boundaries of expensive cars parked in the lot. Why had he kept telling himself that it would a clean break? Why had he not considered about how much pain he would be in if the fall did not end it for him? In his fantasy, it ended pretty quickly.

“Also, if you were going to jump, you would’ve done it already. You wouldn’t have held on to that pole,” Sanghyuk pointed out.

It was cold out, the November evening quickly chilling their bodies, and up close, Sanghyuk could make out the tiny shivers that wracked the omega’s body. Although, he wasn’t sure if it was from the cold or from the fear that was undoubtedly seizing him up. If he were to guess, it would be an equal measure of both.

Silently, he slipped out of his jacket. The omega’s clothing was hardly appropriate for the weather.

Hakyeon hadn’t realised he’d held on involuntarily. His knuckles had almost turned white due to the sheer force of his will to not let go. In a way, the waiter was right. Hakyeon didn’t want to jump. He was terrified beyond what words could relay, but what choice did he have? He would do it just for the sake of ending his suffering.

“Watch me,” Hakyeon muttered, letting the pole go. He sent the waiter one long look, searching his face, trying to memorize the features of the man who was polite with him not because of his status, but because he was probably a truly genuine man. At least the last face he would remember before his inevitable death wouldn’t be that of his father asking him about pups, or of Taekwoon saying they should get him pregnant soon.

Maybe, if he was born as someone other than Cha Hakyeon, he could have met this man before he decided to end his agony. But, then again, if he was born as someone entirely else, he might not even have had the chance to encounter such a man. Fate had a funny way of showing Hakyeon it cared about him.

“Thank you,” He whispered, hoping the wind would carry it to the waiter’s ears.

Sanghyuk watched with horror as the man whispered gratitude. He watched as the man took off his expensive shoes, and looked up towards the sky, smiling with abandon. He watched as the man leapt from the wall. It was almost like he was watching a particularly engaging scene in a movie unfold in slow motion. And, it snapped Sanghyuk out of his frozen state.

Thanking whatever Gods were listening that he had the foresight to have removed his heavy jacket, he threw it on the ground, and stepped up to the wall as fast as humanly possible, and his rapid breathing only stabilized when his hand wrapped around the too thin warm wrist of the omega. He felt the man trash his legs, as if trying to make it difficult for Sanghyuk to pull him to safety.

“Let me go,” Hakyeon cried. He did not want to be saved. He did not want to owe his miserable life to anyone. He wanted to be free.

Hakyeon trashed the whole way, as the man somehow managed to pull him up to the wall, and then promptly on to the ground. Hakyeon lay on the ground, tears flowing down his cheeks, his fists clenching and unclenching.

Sanghyuk knelt on the ground beside the omega, his heart beat rapid and his breathing equally so. “You could’ve died,” he muttered through bouts of deep breaths.

Hakyeon hiccupped. “I wanted to,” He cried, picking himself off the dirty ground and steeling his resolve. He would make the jump again, this time trying to make sure he wouldn’t be caught.

Sanghyuk knew the man would try it again, so he simply pinned the man down with brute force. “I’m sorry, but I can’t let that happen.”

Hakyeon tried to force the alpha off of him, but damn his strength, it wasn’t something an omega like him could fight of. That didn’t mean he would let the man do as he pleased. He did the only thing he could think of, through his tear crusted face, he looked into the man’s eyes and kicked as hard as he could, reaching whatever part of the man as he could.

“Why?” Hakyeon croaked, his voice breaking even with a singly syllable.

And it was exactly at the moment Hakyeon saw a flash of pain across the man’s face that they heard footsteps approach them, and the waiter was unceremoniously thrown off of Hakyeon with an angry cry.

“Step away from my mate,” Taekwoon thundered.

Hakyeon flinched at the rough tone of his husband’s voice.

Damn it.


	2. Life is not a ball of yarn

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Where Hakyeon is resigned to his fate and Sanghyuk learns a bit about Hakyeon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't think there's a necessity to put up any specific warnings in this chapter.
> 
> There's mentions of non/dubcon but there's nothing explicit written.
> 
> If something is unclear, please don't hesitate to ask me to clear it up!
> 
> Enjoy ^^!

**__ **

Sanghyuk had known the second the doors to the balcony were thrown open that it wouldn’t end well. He could imagine clearly what might be running through the mind of whosoever it was that had witnessed their scandalous position. An Alpha without his jacket on, pinning an Omega down with sheer force, and a struggling and sobbing Omega trying his best to hurt the Alpha certainly painted a very compelling scenario. And it was absolutely not in his favour.

But he couldn’t let the omega go, not unless he was willing to risk the man jumping to his death. And that, he was not interested in. Life wasn’t something that could be disposed of so easily.

He heard a sharp inhale of breath just as the man he held kneed him painfully somewhere near his liver. The man may have looked slight, but his kick was so powerful Sanghyuk almost saw stars swimming in his vision. Sanghyuk would have smiled and commented on it, but he was no longer looking at the man’s sobbing face. His spectacles were hanging dangerously low on his nose.

Without warning, he was suddenly thrown onto the cold ground, the dashes of adrenaline calming down, reducing him to a shivering mess as the Alpha who had been with the man all night stormed about the place, looking as if he wanted to burn the building down. His anger was almost palpable. And Sanghyuk’s poor jacket lay still, a few spaces away from him, abandoned.

More men surrounded him, and he was held back with brute physical strength. He looked over at the Alpha and realisation dawned on him as to who the man was. That was the young Mr. Jung, one of Korea’s most upcoming industrialists and businessmen, with a family background more set in stone than what archaeologists could have managed to dig up.

A pair of hands seized the collar of his shirt roughly, forcing him to look up into the eyes of the man, Jung Taekwoon if he remembered correctly. “How dare you touch my mate,” He was furious. Without letting Sanghyuk’s collar go, he whipped around just as furiously to face Hakyeon. “And you, how dare you let him?”

Hakyeon was hunched over in one corner, a thick shawl covering his shaking body, tears crusted over his face as the cold wind whipped through his hair. He looked on, his eyes dead, yet meeting those of his husband’s with as much ferocity as he could muster. “I did nothing of the sort. Please do not assume as you please, Alpha.” he said through clenched teeth.

_Alpha_. He called him Alpha, and that certainly indicated to Sanghyuk they were mated. Married, even. He should have known, really. It wasn’t as if the man’s bond mark was covered by his flimsy clothes. Sanghyuk had simply chosen not to notice it. Jaehwan had been right, after all. This man was a little too out of his league. Yet, he was left intrigued.

Sanghyuk watched as few other men brought out steaming cups of tea and more blankets to cover Hakyeon with, but he had yet to see a single soul ask the man if he was okay. Of course, Sanghyuk had taken care to make sure that he was physically alright, but it was the fact that they left him to his own devices that probably lead him to take such a daring step. It only looked to him that all they cared about was to pull Hakyeon left, right, and centre.

Taekwoon turned back to glare at Sanghyuk. “What in the world gave you the idea that it would be acceptable to touch _my_ husband? A mated Omega? Did you think him easy?”

The way he had emphasized on the word _my_ , had Sanghyuk grimacing. He thought he could understand the man he had yet to know the name of. The word was uttered with such possessive undertones that Sanghyuk realised if he was to be in such a position as that of his Omega, he would certainly have preferred to take drastic measures as well. Why had Taekwoon not bothered to ask his so called husband what went down, if he was so bothered by Sanghyuk’s presence?

“Alpha,” Hakyeon spoke, his voice strong, before the waiter opened his mouth. His expression was carefully guarded.

Taekwoon’s eyes snapped to Hakyeon’s. “Let me handle this, Hakyeon,”

“No, Taekwoon. You listen to me. That man has only helped me. If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t be here, alive. I would’ve been on one of those expensive cars parked along, possibly bleeding out to my death as we speak. So please, let him go and let me thank him,”

“Hakyeon, is this how we raised you?”

None of those on the balcony had noticed the big, burly man step out. None of them had paid any mind when the older man walked closer to where Hakyeon was huddled. But all of their attention was snatched the second they heard the man screech.

Hakyeon’s face lolled to one side, a hand flew to cover his cheek, as if slapped. “I’m sorry, father. But I needed to clarify, that Mr…,” He glanced over at the waiter, a silent question lingering in the cold air. The glamour of the moonlight faded as the time flew past them.

“Hyuk.” Sanghyuk replied, intentionally not giving out his full name. His attention had entirely shifted on to the older man. He appraised him. He recognised him. The man was infamous for both his wealth and his political prowess, and if the Omega called him father, then he was a Cha. Thankfully, Sanghyuk had the presence of mind to not supply his identification details on a silver platter to a man notoriously known to drive even the strongest man up the hill. He wanted no enemy of the sort.

“Mr. Hyuk there, is no rapist, as he’s so been branded.” Hakyeon continued, undeterred by the warning glares sent his way by his husband. “I owe him my life. So, thank you very much,” He bowed to Sanghyuk. “I’d like to think that in case he was actually one, he would’ve not taken advantage of me in such a conspicuous space. And, he would have been putting up much more of a fight than he is currently,”

Sanghyuk watched as both Hakyeon’s father and his husband became progressively red in the face, their anger barely contained if their thinly pressed lips were any indication. It was surprising, to say the least. Mainly because, as far as Sanghyuk could tell, they were more embarrassed over the fact that an omega spoke in the midst of so many others, especially when his guardian was present for his matters to be taken care of. As was the right of duty of the so called guardians.

Yet, throughout the entire ordeal, it was beyond Sanghyuk’s understanding why in the world none of the well-wishers of the young Cha bothered to ask him if he was doing okay, if he was fine. It was as if all they cared about was whether or not their precious Omega had been laid hands on without consent. It was outrageous.

Sanghyuk watched as Taekwoon walked over to his mate and pulled him up, possessively winding an arm around his waist, tucking him carefully to his side. He also watched as an expression of what seemed like pain lit Hakyeon’s face, yet it was replaced by the bored, poker face Sanghyuk had somehow become accustomed to in the mere hours that he had first laid his eyes on the other since, and that left him to wonder if he had simply imagined it.

“Let’s go home,” Taekwoon said to him, rubbing his waist as if in reassurance and Hakyeon wondered if the people around them knew that it was only an act of saving Taekwoon’s own dignity and not something out of love and affection.

Hakyeon sent one last glance towards the man who unnecessarily saved his life, telling himself he’d done beyond what he should’ve done to save this man’s life, and if, by chance of fate, something were to happen, then he wasn’t to be blamed, it had to be because that young alpha was a tad too reckless, a bit too naïve. He needn’t have stepped in to save Hakyeon. He shouldn’t have.

The men had let go of Sanghyuk, but he still remained on the ground, reaching to grab his jacket and drape himself with the cold material, distracting himself from staring too long in the direction Hakyeon, as he’d learnt his name recently, had disappeared off to. As he stood, dusting his pants and shirt off, he heard a loud grunt, and he looked up.

“It is interesting, isn’t it? How my son thinks I will believe him, or you, when we both can clearly see that you have just picked that jacket off the floor?” Mr Cha levelled with him. “Do you think I’m dumb enough to think that you had enough time to shed your jacket before my accidentally slipped off the wall which is high enough to break any accidental slips?” A cigar held between his fore and middle fingers, he made sure to blow the carcinogenic smoke Sanghyuk’s way.

Sanghyuk froze. So, the man already knew, what the hell.

“You’re free to believe what you want to, sir. It’s a free country after all,” Sanghyuk replied, bowing at his waist, and silently stepped back into the warmth of the Wedding Hall, leaving the man to seethe into the air all by himself.

Maybe Jaehwan was right. Maybe he shouldn’t have bothered at all.

Nobody noticed, but, Hakyeon’s expensive shoes still lay on the floor of the balcony, shining in the glittering fairy lights that the building was adorned with.

 

~>▲<~

 

Hakyeon did not speak as he was shoved roughly into the passenger seat of their car. He did not speak as Taekwoon muttered to himself, shooting glances at Hakyeon in between. He said nothing even when Taekwoon drove the car a tad too fast for his liking, as he clutched on to the edges of the seat until his knuckles almost paled with a lack of blood circulation. He took to looking out the tinted windows of the car, watching the scant traffic and the lights of the late night whiz past him, without paying much mind to the passage of time.

He could feel the anger radiate off of Taekwoon in waves. He could feel his own heart respond to the anger, and the bite mark on his neck begin to pulse. If he looked into the mirror, he knew it would be glowing red by the point. He tried to shut off the connection he had never actually wanted to begin with, but it seemed to him that Taekwoon was making sure he felt every little emotion that was seizing him up, making sure the bond remained open. Hakyeon hated it.

Taekwoon almost crashed into two vehicles on the way back. He brought the car to a skidding halt in the parking lot of their apartment building and wordlessly made sure Hakyeon stepped out before he handed the keys to the valet attendant. He grabbed Hakyeon’s wrist and pulled him along into the elevator, heading straight home.

Once the passcode was pressed in, and the door to their home was opened, a flash of white promptly jumped on to Taekwoon but he simply growled lowly, pushing it away.

Hakyeon shot him a glare. “You don’t need to behave like this poor thing angered you, Taekwoon,” He crouched down, smiling sweetly at their cat, opening his arms wide for the animal to jump in, which Whiskers did, mewling softly and rubbing his head against Hakyeon’s chest.

“I need you in the bedroom, Hakyeon. Now. And it’s Alpha to you,” Taekwoon grabbed Hakyeon up forcefully, dislodging Whiskers from his arms in the process. “And I don’t want you opening your mouth unless you’ve been given expert permission. Understand?”

Hakyeon ignored the fear that was beginning to settle deep into his bones. He may not have been the best husband out there, but, Taekwoon only ever ordered him with that tone when he truly was pissed off, and Hakyeon definitely did not want a repeat of what happened the one time he went out without permission. He had most certainly fucked up.

Clenching his fists and bundling up the hem of his dress shirt, he nodded once. As if sensing his distress, Whiskers wound his tail around Hakyeon’s ankle, and Hakyeon bent down, petting his head, hoping the cat understood his unsaid feelings.

Taekwoon growled once again, irritated. He pulled Hakyeon up and backed him up into the wall of the living room, pushing him hard enough that when Hakyeon’s back hit the wall, it made a loud sound. Uncaring, Taekwoon pinned his wrists up and held him in place, pushing himself entirely into Hakyeon’s personal space.

“You don’t seem to have your mind in the right place today,” Taekwoon kissed him, all teeth and tongue and rough lips shoved against Hakyeon’s soft ones. Transferring both of Hakyeon’s hands to one of his, he grabbed Hakyeon’s waist with the other, pulling him impossibly closer.

Hakyeon struggled under his grasp. He didn’t want to be held. But, Taekwoon was strong. Hakyeon tried to wiggle his way out, only for Taekwoon to hold him tighter, his fingertips digging into Hakyeon’s waist. It hurt. Just like it always did. He did not flinch.

Taekwoon stepped slightly back, his hands not leaving their hold on Hakyeon. “Don’t you think it’s already too late to apologise?” His voice was low, the statement almost in a whisper.

Hakyeon met his eyes head on. He may not know of what Taekwoon might do or say to him, but he wasn’t fool enough to make himself seem more vulnerable. He wasn’t. He was strong. Maybe not physically, obviously comparing himself to an Alpha he’d be less strong, but where it mattered, he was. He’s had to be. He hasn’t had a choice. “I’m not going to apologise for doing what was necessary, Alpha,” He stood by his principles.

“Are you telling me it was necessary to embarrass me in front of your father? In front of that waiter?” Taekwoon spat the last word, as if just imagining about a mere waiter having touched what was his, legally or otherwise, tainted it entirely. Releasing Hakyeon, he scrubbed his palms on his pants, as if to rid himself of the feeling of having touched something slimy, something unworthy.

Hakyeon rubbed at his sore waist, hoping to soothe the burn, even if just a bit. “I did not embarrass you,”

“Wrong answer,” Taekwoon muttered as he shoved his hand to clamp against the part of Hakyeon’s neck where the claim mark lay, roughly tearing apart the thin material of his dress shirt. He pressed on it, his fingers digging in.

Hakyeon’s spine snapped straight with tension. It hurt, his body ablaze with all the spite and anger Taekwoon seemed to pour into his every crevice with a simple touch of fingers to the mark, making him shudder. It felt as if a veil has suddenly dropped in front of his eyes, a fog settled in, and a haze of blackness that threatened to engulf him whole. Yet, he did not flinch.

“Alpha, please,” Hakyeon knew his voice came out strained even when a humming noise almost made him hard of hearing. He clenched his fists tighter, one hand trying to wrap around Taekwoon’s wrist to pull it away to give himself some relief. His hands shook with the effort of having to perform any action but that of holding on to the nearest object his fingers could wrap themselves around, to not lose his self to the darkness that was suddenly everywhere.

Taekwoon let go, yet the onslaught of negative emotions did not stop their flow into Hakyeon. He had left their bond open, making sure Hakyeon realised just how upset he had been made. He did not appreciate such behaviour. It was unbecoming of someone who was in such a place in society as him, to have been spoken to in such a tone by their spouse, especially an omega.

Hakyeon’s legs gave out. He slid to the floor of the living room, and curled up into himself. His hands flew to the floor to keep himself grounded, to not fall over. He was taking in rapid, shallow bouts of air. It didn’t help. The tears that had been threatening to fall over the corners of his eyes, finally given the chance to escape.

Taekwoon walked away to their bedroom, just as Whiskers slid into Hakyeon’s lap and gave him tiny licks.

The door was intentionally left open, a silent order on Taekwoon’s part for Hakyeon to follow him in as quickly as possible. Hakyeon did not want to go in. He felt drained, his entire body drenched in sweat. It wasn’t a choice, Hakyeon knew.

He had resigned himself to it when he first presented as an omega, an incident that changed his life for the worse almost fifteen years prior.

 

~>▲<~

 

Sanghyuk couldn’t help but let his mind wander to the man, Hakyeon as he recalled his mate calling him, even as he finished up the rest of his shift and wandered back to the shitty place he was staying at. He was beyond intrigued, he knew not why. He’d met omegas before, hell, his best friend was one. So, the argument that his curiosity only extended to the man because of his secondary gender proved weak, baseless. It wasn’t so. It was the man himself, the man who seemed to carry all the sadness in the world, shrouded around him like a thick jacket. One Sanghyuk wanted to help him shed.

He couldn’t help but wonder if the people who called themselves that man’s family would have at least mourned his death, God forbid. His every fibre stood on end when his traitorous mind conjured up images of Hakyeon’s husband and father. He didn’t think any person deserved to be treated as if the only one use of theirs was to be a trophy and he couldn’t even begin to understand what made someone lose so much of their humanity.

Lost in thoughts, he failed to notice the pair of shoes that littered his doorway or the unlocked door to what he called home, until he stepped into the dark and found the familiar silhouette of his best friend, Jaehwan, occupying his couch. He jumped, not expecting anyone to even breathe in the stale air that blanketed his shit hole of an apartment, much less Jaehwan. The first and last time Jaehwan’d been over, he had sworn to never make it back.

“Fuck, you scared the ever loving shit out of me, Jae,” Sanghyuk muttered as he groped for the light switches, frowning when the lights did not turn on. He tried to remember if he had cleared the electricity bill for the month or he had yet to, but he came up empty. Maybe it was in one of those unopened mails he had thrown on top of his tiny refrigerator cum centre table fixture in the living room.  

Switching on the flashlight on his mobile, he shone the light at Jaehwan who had taken to glaring at him even through the dark. “You aren’t as intimidating as you’d like to believe you are, Jae. You can stop glaring.” He muttered as he looked for the spare candles he was certain he had dropped into one of the many drawers in the stand that held his television. That was one of the first things he had bought out of his hard earned money.

“Why are you still staying here, Sanghyuk?” Jaehwan asked, not letting his gaze drop from staring holes into Sanghyuk’s back, the only part of Sanghyuk’s body that he could see from the dim light of the flashlight. He folded his arms across his chest for impact.

Sanghyuk sighed, giving up on his search. It was in vain, either way. “This is my home, Jaehwan. Where else do you expect me to stay?” He was exhausted, not just from having worked the whole evening serving privileged assholes who believed they owed the world, but also because he was still trying to reel back from the events surrounding the omega. And he was most certainly not in the mood to have this particular conversation again. It never ended well.

“Come home with me,” Jaehwan told him, his tone indicating that he found it just as exhausting and futile to have the conversation again. Yet, Jaehwan was nothing if not persistent. And, he wasn’t interested in letting his best friend spend the night at a place with no electricity in the middle of winter. “I don’t want to have to read in the newspapers and find out about the idiot who froze to death in his sleep,”

“I won’t.” Sanghyuk gestured to the coat he had not yet shed. “This will keep me warm enough,”

“For the last time, Han Sanghyuk, it would be much appreciated if you listened to me just once. Come home with me. It will not kill you,” Jaehwan wasn’t one to raise his voice or to lose his cool, but Sanghyuk wasn’t making it any easier for him and the last thread of self-control was on the verge of splintering.

“No, Jaehwan,” Sanghyuk remained calm. He knew Jaehwan only had his best interests in mind, but he had things to prove and it wouldn’t be feasible if he listened to his friend. “If I do that, it will take away the very essence of my point that I can and will survive against all odds. I do not need to live comfortably to become successful.”

Jaehwan held his head between the palms of his hands, pressing fingers into his temple. “I know. But I checked your supplies. You don’t even have the food or basic necessities to live, let alone with comforts, but as a human being. It’s one thing to rebel. It’s another to starve.”

Sanghyuk dropped his shoulders as he knelt in front of Jaehwan’s slouched form. “I can make it, but only if I have your support. If you join forces with my family and make me do things against my wishes, it won’t end well between us. And I do not want that. You’re the only one I can depend on, Jae. You know that,”

Jaehwan looked up at his best friend. “I’m aware,” He gave him a rueful smile. He gazed at Sanghyuk for a while, willing his friend to change his stance, just the once, but if Jaehwan was stubborn, Sanghyuk was on a whole other level.

Jaehwan sighed. “Alright, how about just coming in for the night? I won’t pester you much. At least have a good night’s sleep before you start your new job,”

Sanghyuk considered that for a minute. He did not want to be late on his first day of work. Plus, he had his night classes scheduled for the next day as well. A good night’s sleep sounded splendid. “Alright, but it’s only for tonight. And in the future, if you want to have sleepovers, it will have to be here,”

Jaehwan nodded reluctantly. “This place sucks, though.” He relaxed his shoulders, hoping the couch he sat on wasn’t infested with fleas. He had no idea which flea market or dumpster Sanghyuk had picked it up from, and he sure hoped he wouldn’t wake up the next morning with gonorrhoea or something of the sort.

Sanghyuk smacked his friend lightly on his shoulder. “Shut up. It’s better than living on the streets. I’ll take this over everything I did the last few months,” Sanghyuk shuddered as the memory of having been kicked out of his home with all his cards blocked and nowhere to go flashed through his mind. It was a nightmare.

He shook himself out of it and stood up, deciding to pack some change of clothes and other supplies for the night. It might be nice to sleep on a proper bed once in a while, rather than on the couch from the next door grandmother who had been kind enough to write it in his name after her passing, which came as a surprise for him.

As they stepped out of the building, ready to get into Jaehwan’s car, his phone vibrated in his hand. Frowning, he wondered who was texting him when the only person who might even text was standing in front of him. His frown only deepened as he unlocked his phone and read the message.

“What is it?” Jaehwan asked when Sanghyuk stared at the device, his mouth hanging open.

“It’s Hongbin. He wants to meet me,” Sanghyuk muttered. He had a terrible feeling in his gut. His stomach churned.

“Oh.”

And Oh it was.


	3. Chained to the rhythm

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sanghyuk and Hakyeon meet again. Hakyeon wants nothing to do with Sanghyuk, while Sanghyuk can't seem to leave Hakyeon alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please don't hate me or Taek yet lol.  
> I'll give you the full permission to hate me later!
> 
> Oh, we meet Hongbin! Yay! also a peak of Wonshik, i guess.
> 
> I don't think it needs any warnings for this chapter. But, if someone finds something that needs to be warned about, let me know! triggers can be in any form.
> 
> There's indirect mentions of abuse. Abuse is abuse, no matter what form, and needs to not be stood by.

**__ **

 

Sanghyuk couldn’t help the constant tapping of his foot in an unrecognised rhythm, as he sat next to Jaehwan in the corner most booth of the café he’d agreed to meet Hongbin at. His mind was running at a million kilometres per hour, his thoughts flying haywire. He vaguely wondered if his head was smoking, because it sure felt on fire to him. Belatedly he realised it may have been idiotic of him to meet the person who served as a catalyst for his life’s derailment from its course. A catalyst. Not the reason.

“What if it’s a set up?” Sanghyuk had already managed to bite his lower lip raw in the ten minutes since they’d occupied their seats, having only asked for water when the waiter came by. He checked the time once again in the same minute, glaring at the clock in hopes of getting the seconds hand to stop ticking. Ah, how he wished he had superpowers of some kind. “He’s late, Jae,” He was extremely worried.

Jaehwan sipped on his water, his gaze trained on the entryway. He was annoyed at his friend for being so nervous. “Relax, Hyuk. I don’t think it’s a set up.  Give him time. He needs to be able to shake off his guards,” He sighed, rolling his eyes. Sanghyuk had yet to ask him a different question since they entered the place.

Sanghyuk tried his best to ignore the ’what ifs’ his traitorous mind had not stopped churning out. He clasped his hands in front of him and intertwined his fingers. If it certainly was a set up, he’d use his Alpha command to get them to leave him the fuck alone, even if he hated having to use them. But, that was his only way out of the whole ordeal, if it came down to it. He was out of options. It grated on his nerves.

“I’m so sorry I’m late,” Hongbin’s deep voice infiltrated and broke his chain of thought before he made more of a wreck of himself than possible, just as Jaehwan nudged him in the side with his elbow.

Jaehwan excused himself, giving them ample space and time to talk it out.

“They weren’t letting me out of their sight and they’d kill me if they found out I was meeting with an alpha outside of the presence of elders,” Hongbin was saying as he settled into the seat across from the one occupied by Jaehwan and Sanghyuk, glancing up for a fleeting second before setting his book bag next to him, only to do a double take as soon as his eyes landed on Sanghyuk’s slouched form. “Oh my God, I almost didn’t recognise you, Sanghyuk,”

Sanghyuk tilted his head to the side, a small frown creasing the skin between his eyebrows and at his forehead when he realised. “Ah,” he muttered, sliding his glasses higher onto his nose bridge and running a hand through his freshly coloured bleached hair. “I didn’t want anyone to get suspicious,” He gestured to the outside. “I know they still have moles all over the city,”

Hongbin looked down into his lap, a genuine expression of guilt flitting across his face. “I’m extremely sorry,” His voice was low.

Sanghyuk shook his head. “It’s not your fault! Please don’t apologise. It’ll only make me feel burdened,”

Hongbin looked up, his lower lip worrying still. “I can’t help feel guilty though. You needn’t have left your house if you hadn’t gotten the proposition of having to marry me. Maybe they are right. Maybe there is something faulty with me,”

Sanghyuk’s throat dried. “What do you mean?” he had a feeling he already knew. Omegas in their society were treated worse than grime on the underside of shoes.

Hongbin shook his head as if to clear away the thoughts. “Ah, it’s nothing,” He grabbed his bag and held on to it, his fingers clenching the material tight.

Sanghyuk wondered if he could reach out and touch Hongbin without scaring him, his hand lingered above the table for a split second before he decided otherwise. Hongbin was an unmarried omega, and it wouldn’t do if someone were to find them in what they would deem compromising positions, even if it was a simple touch to make the other feel less uncomfortable.

“Hongbin,” Sanghyuk decided to call out instead.

Hongbin met his eyes, a silent question in his gaze.

“What did you want to meet for?”

Hongbin looked away. He held his shoulders with tension radiating off of him in waves. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to get through with the conversation.

“I’m not going to bite, Hongbin,”

That drew a laugh from Hongbin due to the sheer irony. It managed to relax him as well. “I need your help,” He finally muttered, threading his fingers together. It wasn’t easy, asking for help when omegas were already treated the way they were, but his life had gone to hell, and he was desperate.

“With?” Sanghyuk prompted.

Hongbin played with a stray piece of thread that had gotten loose on the cuff of his shirt, wondering how to word his request. He could feel the anxiety roll off of Sanghyuk in waves, and it wasn’t helping his already frayed nerves.

“Will you promise me something first?” He finally asked.

Sanghyuk tilted his head to the side. “Depends,”

“Will you promise that you will not use whatever I’m going to say to you to your own benefit? I don’t want to have to deal with more than what I already have going,”

Sanghyuk nodded. That wasn’t out of his hands. He could. “Yes,”

Hongbin relaxed slightly. “Okay,” He nodded once and took a deep breath. “I need you to talk to my parents,”

Sanghyuk snapped his eyes to Hongbin’s, his spine stick straight with the tension coiling underneath every muscle.

Before he could open his mouth, Hongbin held a hand out in a motion for the other to stop speaking. “I need you to tell them that I’m not faulty.” He continued, his eyes glued to Sanghyuk’s.

Sanghyuk inhaled sharply. “What do you mean?”

Hongbin gave him a tiny smile, one that made the hairs at the nape of his neck stand straight.

“I’m an omega,”

Sanghyuk was aware.

“And you’re an alpha,” Hongbin gestured to Sanghyuk.

He knew that as well.

“And this world doesn’t pay much mind to omegas. We are treated as property. Belonging to our parents before marriage, and to our partners after. We don’t have much say in anything of importance. We are made to believe from a young age that we are to behave a certain way, we have to fulfil certain needs of our guardians, and that we are not to go against their wishes at any point,”

Sanghyuk nodded. It was common knowledge. Everyone seemed to know it and most seemed to be comfortable with it as well, even when the very thought of “owning” another life was beyond what Sanghyuk was comfortable with. He was trying very hard to not let his thoughts wander to the one Omega that caught his attention the previous day, and how his husband did very much behave as if he owned Hakyeon instead of treating him like an equal, as was supposed to be in a relationship like theirs.

“And when we omegas are rejected in any way by a potential mate, or guardian rather, then we are somehow seen as tainted, not good enough, faulty.”

Sanghyuk’s jaw dropped open when the implication of Hongbin’s words seeped into his brain. He was speechless. He knew not what to say, even.

“Hence, I would appreciate if you were to talk to my parents, and to let them know that it wasn’t my fault for having gotten rejected.” Hongbin concluded.

Sanghyuk shook himself out of the shocked state. “I’m sorry,” He croaked. He’d never meant those words more in his life.

Hongbin simply nodded.

“No, I mean it. I don’t know if you understand just how much I actually mean it. I’m truly sorry. I am. I never thought of it from your point of view. I was selfish, and stubborn. I didn’t stop to think what it would mean for me to walk out a day before we were set to get engaged, especially when it was already announced to the world. Oh God,” Sanghyuk buried his face in his hands.

Hongbin tentatively reached across the table and placed a hand on Sanghyuk’s shoulder. “Thank you,” He could feel the sincerity, and he hadn’t necessarily asked to meet up to make Sanghyuk feel guilty. He was only being slightly selfish, needing his parents to stop blaming him.

Sanghyuk jerked at the touch, not expecting it. “You shouldn’t be thanking me. Oh my God, I’m extremely ashamed of my spontaneity,” He steeled himself. “Thank you for trusting me. Thank you for coming up to me. I know it must have been difficult to come up and talk to the person who made your life hell,”

Hongbin shook his head. “You didn’t necessarily make it hell. In fact, I would like to think I’m lucky to have met you. My life may have been derailed, but it also got set in a different direction, one I’ve taken a liking to so far. That’s why I thanked you. I’ll share, maybe one day when we’re friends, instead of just prospective husbands.”

Sanghyuk nodded gratefully. “I’ll talk to your parents. I’ll tell them it was my fault entirely and that they aren’t to blame you,”

Hongbin smiled, a genuine show of teeth since the second he had stepped in to have the meeting. He was glad it went well. He knew Sanghyuk wasn’t like most other alphas, but he was one in the end, and Hongbin had no idea how he might end up reacting to a request from an omega.

“Thank you. I need to leave, get back to my guards before they start to tear the city apart,” Hongbin picked his bag up, and stood up.

Sanghyuk stood as well. “Can I drop you off?”

Hongbin shook his head. “No, they are already going to be asking me a million questions as to why I smell like an alpha. I don’t want to get into more trouble.”

Sanghyuk stepped back.

“I have an idea,” Jaehwan popped from behind the Hongbin, making him jump.

“Oh, where are my manners? Hello, I’m Lee Jaehwan and I’m this idiot’s best friend,” Jaehwan bowed, grinning slightly.

Hongbin smiled back, lowering his hand from where it clutched his shirt hem. “Hello,”

Jaehwan threw himself at Hongbin without warning, his arms flung around the other’s shoulders. “Now you won’t smell like an alpha anymore,”

Hongbin stumbled back a step before regaining his balance, and held on to Jaehwan’s waist as he laughed, breathless. “I guess I won’t.”

 

~>▲<~

 

Hakyeon’s sleep broke to the irritating sound of the alarm blaring too early in the morning. He stretched his hands to reach over the pillows to grab the alarm clock to shut it down, but he froze in his spot with his hands extended. Hakyeon was, honestly, surprised how he hadn’t felt any of the pain that seemed to take over his entire body, as he slept. Wincing slightly, he shut the alarm down, not in the mood to deal with a cranky husband.

Pushing himself off the bed, he made sure to pull the covers back on to Taekwoon as he left to get dressed and set everything in order for breakfast. He’d have to do it all himself. Taekwoon wasn’t comfortable with having helpers around the house, especially because most helpers were either alphas or betas. Omegas, even those from lower statuses of living, weren’t given the freedom to work as they pleased, although their lives were slightly better than what Hakyeon had to live through.

He felt the tiredness course through every nerve and fibre of his body even after the almost seven hours of sleep he had the night before, as he readied to get everything set up. He desperately needed a massage. His body felt like it was on fire. Stepping into the kitchen, he poured out some milk in Whiskers’ bowl, knowing he would start dancing around Hakyeon’s legs soon enough if he had forgotten. He checked the time, it was quarter to six and Taekwoon would be waking up soon. Sighing to himself, Hakyeon got to work.

Just as he started, Whiskers came in, yawning and meowing softly. Hakyeon bent down and picked up the cat, smiling at him. He ignored the pain that shot up his spine as he bent. Whiskers seemed to take him off edge, making his worries melt. He loved the little ball of fur, the only source of peace in his otherwise bleak and tiresome existence.

He cooked, he cleaned, he made himself presentable, and was just about setting up the table as Taekwoon walked out of the bedroom, freshly showered and clad in his work clothes, presentable as always. No one would doubt Taekwoon was anything but the epitome of kind and respectable. Hakyeon knew better, though. He absolutely stood by the saying that claimed to not judge a book by its cover.

Without a word, Taekwoon sat himself down at the table and Whiskers meowed and jumped into his lap. He gave him a tiny smile and rubbed a soothing finger behind his ear.

Hakyeon poured the freshly brewed coffee into Taekwoon’s favourite mug and set it next to the plate with eggs and bacon, a classic breakfast, with a side of some soup. He hoped Taekwoon wouldn’t comment on the breakfast.

“Alpha,” Hakyeon said softly, pulling his bowl of oatmeal towards him as he sat down, trying not to wince at the obvious pain that shot through his lower body and up his spine at the attempt. Omegas had a restriction on the kinds of food they were allowed to consume. And after the previous night’s meal at the wedding, Hakyeon would have to work harder to keep in shape.

Taekwoon grunted as he scoured the archives for daily news and to check the stock market lows and highs of the previous day. He picked up his coffee without taking his eyes off his tablet perched on the table as he waited for Hakyeon to speak.

“We’re out of supplies. I need to get groceries,” Hakyeon twirled his spoon around in his bowl. His stomach churned and he lost all appetite as he waited for Taekwoon’s answer.

“I’ll let Mr. Kim know,” Taekwoon replied as he picked up his fork and knife to get through with his food. His eyes dropped to the plate. He set the knife and fork aside. He pushed the plate away. “What is this?” He asked calmly.

Hakyeon looked up nervously. “Is there a problem, Alpha?” He tried to keep the tremor at bay. He wasn’t sure he was successful.

Taekwoon’s expression darkened. He jumped to his feet, scaring Whiskers who had taken to licking his bowl of milk clean, making him run behind Hakyeon’s legs. “Are you fucking kidding me?” He slammed his hands on the table, his face pushed close to Hakyeon’s.

Hakyeon knew what the problem was, of course. He wanted to lean back, but he knew that would only serve to anger his husband even more than he already was. So he stayed rooted to his seat, dropping his gaze to the table. At least, Taekwoon hadn’t thrown the food to the floor. Grease was a bitch to get out of their carpeted flooring.

“What day is it, Hakyeon?” Taekwoon asked, his voice low.

“Monday, Alpha,” Hakyeon replied, not taking his eyes off the table.

“Look at me, Hakyeon” Taekwoon’s voice strained as if he was trying to hold his anger off.

Hakyeon’s heart thundered in his chest. He was just about to swallow his nerves and do the same when Taekwoon’s thumb and forefinger dug into his cheeks and pulled his face up roughly.

“I said, fucking look at me, Hakyeon,” Taekwoon spat at him.

Hakyeon did as he was told. He met his husband’s eyes. He was vaguely aware of Whiskers scampering off to safety. Hakyeon might find him hiding somewhere under on the couches later on. He sighed internally.

“What are eggs and bacon doing on my plate on a Monday, Hakyeon?” Taekwoon stared back into Hakyeon’s eyes.

“We’re out of supplies, Alpha,” Hakyeon replied through clenched teeth. His lower jaw hurt with the effort to speak through the clenching of it. “There wasn’t anything I could make but eggs and bacon, I’m sorry,”

“All you do is apologise, Hakyeon. Is there anything you do right?” Taekwoon spat at him. “Why hadn’t you gotten the groceries yesterday if you were already aware?”

It wasn’t Hakyeon’s fault. It had slipped his mind, as was normal for any human being. But, of course, Hakyeon was never treated as one. Had Taekwoon not rushed him the previous day for the Wedding and had let him wear the clothes he had chosen for himself, it wouldn’t have come to the point of having to provide Taekwoon with food that was meant for a Sunday. Mondays were for a meat less breakfast session.

“I’m sorry, Alpha. I will not do it again,” Hakyeon simply lowered his gaze.

Taekwoon shook his head. “Your sorries are beginning to lose meaning,” 

Hakyeon sat silent. There wasn’t anything he could do or say to diffuse the situation. He would only serve to further sour Taekwoon’s mood with his reasoning, so he let it go.

Taekwoon let Hakyeon’s face go. “Mr. Kim will be here soon. It would be appreciated if you write a list. I’m banking on the fact that you haven’t forgotten to read and write, hopefully,”

Hakyeon scrambled to his feet. “I’ll have it ready, Alpha,” No point arguing.

 

~>▲<~

 

Hakyeon sighed as he got into the car. He felt even more exhausted as compared to what he felt when he had woken up that morning. After Taekwoon had left, Hakyeon got around to cleaning up the shards of the ceramic plate that his husband had thrown to the floor in his rage, regardless. He had found Whiskers hiding behind the laundry hamper in the balcony, and had to lure him out with difficulty. The grease stains, as he had known, were extremely difficult to deal with. And when Taekwoon had called to let him know that Mr. Kim was busy and couldn’t get the groceries, he had been told to get into the car with a driver Taekwoon would be sending home soon.

“Hello, Mr Cha,” The driver bowed as Hakyeon entered. He was new.

Hakyeon returned the bow with a nod of his own as he settled into the back seat. It felt good, to be outside of the house and to not have Taekwoon stuck to his side. He looked out the window as the car zoomed past the traffic.

“I’ll be waiting in the parking lot. Please give me a call when you are done, sir. I will help you with bringing it in,” The driver informed Hakyeon as he got out of the car when they reached the supermarket.

Hakyeon nodded. “Alright,” He informed and walked inside the store.

 

~>▲<~

 

Sanghyuk was nervous for his first day of work. He had never even set his step into a place such as the one he was given a part time job at, let alone having seen how a supermarket run. It wasn’t a place for Alphas from families such as his. All he knew was the behind the scenes, which was absolutely not helpful in stacking the aisles or working the billing counter. He never had the need to have to fend for his own self in the departments of food or clothes or any other basic necessities. But, of course, his life was different now that he had decided to make a life for himself, one different from the pre destined way set in stone for him.

He bowed to the Manager of the place and stood next to one of the older part timers, learning how to work a cash register and how to scan a barcode. He was taken with the entire idea of barcodes and just how unique each one was. It was impressive, to say the least. Having been completely immersed in mastering the ropes as early as possible, he failed to notice the man who kept taking over his thoughts enter the supermarket.

“I think you can take over. You seem to have got the gist of it,” His co-worker, Sungjae, handed over the counter to Sanghyuk and he couldn’t have been happier.

“What if I run into trouble?” Sanghyuk needed to know. It was his first day, after all.

“Holler at me and I’ll appear immediately, Your Majesty.” Sungjae mocked a bow and a salute at Sanghyuk, moving to his own work station.

Sanghyuk laughed at his antics. He liked the guy. He’d already learnt they were of the same age, and Sungjae needed to work to pay for his tuitions. He found it impressive and commendable, that a man, barely twenty four, was already well-versed with the workings of the society and how to survive. He had a lot more to learn.

Lost in thoughts, he was caught by surprise when he found a cart piled with groceries trying to back out of his billing lane and he looked up. He froze when his eyes met those of Hakyeon’s who looked as if he would rather be anywhere else but there. Unfortunately for Hakyeon, there was already another person behind him and he couldn’t cause an inconvenience to the rest of the customers. Resigning himself, Hakyeon moved forward, trying to look anywhere but at Sanghyuk.

Sanghyuk felt himself smile slightly. But his smile fell off as Hakyeon approached. He’d only seen the man last night, and he was sure the man didn’t look like that the previous night. His eyes were lined with dark circles, his cheeks seemed to have some sort of impressions on either side that looked a little too similar to finger marks than Sanghyuk would have liked. Exhaustion seemed to pour out of the man in thick waves and Sanghyuk had the sudden urge to pull the man into his embrace and hide him away from the world that was being cruel to him. He didn’t even want to imagine what the man might have hidden beneath the thick coat he had donned.

“Are you okay, Mr Cha?” Sanghyuk questioned, as he began to tag the items he put on the counter, his voice so low he wasn’t sure the other heard him.

Hakyeon wasn’t sure what to say. He hadn’t expected to ever have to come across that man again, but fate always liked to play games with him, he knew. He just didn’t know it would be so cruel. What was he to say? Tell the man to fuck off? Remind him he had wanted to die only for he needed the escape? Guilt him by saying he made everything worse? Let him know he was beyond pissed with him and wasn’t ready to hold a civil conversation?

Sanghyuk understood Hakyeon was battling with himself on the inside. Hakyeon needn’t have said a word to him, Sanghyuk was somehow able to read just what was going through the latter’s mind. It was obvious. And after his talk with Hongbin that morning, he couldn’t help but feel more than guilty about having put Hakyeon in whatever predicament he ended up in.

“I’m sorry, Mr Cha,” Sanghyuk said to him softly, not waiting for a reply to his question. He was ashamed. He had managed to hurt two people with feelings and emotions without intending to.

Hakyeon looked up at him with surprise evident in his eyes. He hadn’t expected an apology. Not from an Alpha. “It wasn’t your place to meddle, Hyuk,” He was unable to erase the anger from his voice.

Sanghyuk hung his head down as he tagged the last of the items from Hakyeon’s cart. “I’m aware, sir. But, I just couldn’t help it,” He tried to explain. Maybe it wasn’t the way to try, but he had to at least give it a chance.

Hakyeon shook his head. “Of course, you found a helpless omega and your instincts just took over, isn’t that what happened?” Anger never served anyone properly, it never made a situation right, he was more than aware of it, yet he couldn’t help but feel the hurt, every alpha was the same. Dominant. And always right, according to their ideas.

Sanghyuk looked up to meet Hakyeon’s. He was, frankly, taken aback with the reasoning. “No,” It was out of his mouth so quickly, he was just as surprised as Hakyeon looked to be. “No,” He resumed in a softer tone. “That was not my intention.”

Hakyeon simply raised an eyebrow. “Then, pray, tell me what exactly it was that drove you to pull me away from escape and throw me back into misery?”

When Hakyeon worded it that way, Sanghyuk didn’t know how to reply. “I’m truly sorry. I’m not sure my apologies will help, but I simply couldn’t let anyone go through such a decision without having at least one memory that would make them happy. I just wanted to see you smile,”

Hakyeon gaped at him. He was left speechless. He nodded, slowly. He found it sweet. It wasn’t what he had expected at all. He shook himself out of it. “I’m getting late. Please tell me how much it cost,” He said at last, turning his eyes away from Sanghyuk.

Sanghyuk sighed as he swiped the card Hakyeon handed over to him. Packing all the items into plastic bags, he placed them back into the cart. “Can I help you carry them out to your car?” he asked at last.

Hakyeon quickly stepped back, weary. He couldn’t let himself be seen with another Alpha in public. Taekwoon wouldn’t be happy with it. “No, please don’t.”

Sanghyuk nodded, letting Hakyeon walk away from him. He watched as Hakyeon took his phone out and called someone, he assumed it was a driver. He watched a man walk in and pick up the bags and watched as Hakyeon walked out the doors without so much as a glance towards Sanghyuk.

He didn’t know what came over him, but he signalled to Sungjae that he would be back in a minute and to man his counter as well and ran out the doors, searching for Hakyeon. He found him, walking towards a car where the driver from earlier was putting the bags into the dicky. Sanghyuk ran to him and grabbed his wrist.

Hakyeon would’ve honestly screamed if he had been anybody else. Pain shot up his arms as he felt an hand wrap around his wrist and he desperately tried to pull away, trying not to let it get any more bruised than it already was. He turned to find a panting Sanghyuk.

“What do you want?” He seethed, keeping an eye on the new driver. He didn’t want him to report to Taekwoon without having any idea as to what was happening.

“How can I make it up to you?” Sanghyuk panted.

Hakyeon looked at him as if he lost it. Maybe he actually did lose his mind. Who in their right mind would try to court a mated omega? Not a sane one, that much he was sure of.

“What the hell do you mean?” Hakyeon sounded close to hysterical. He was still trying to pull his arm free, but Sanghyuk was too strong for him. “Let me go,”

Sanghyuk looked at their linked hands with an expression that screamed he had no idea how that happened and immediately withdrew his hand, cradling it with the other. “I’m sorry,” he apologised once again. “I just wanted to know if I could take you out to coffee or something, to make it up to you. Take it as an apology of sorts.” He tried to explain, his hands flailing around him. He must have looked comical.

Hakyeon was sure the alpha had lost his mind. He gaped at him, once again. “You’ve gone mad,”

Sanghyuk laughed. “It seems so.”

Hakyeon was beyond sure. He didn’t find the situation funny, not even close to. “I’m mated,” he tried.

“I’m aware,” Sanghyuk replied.

“Are you sure you’re aware?” Hakyeon couldn’t help question his sanity. “It doesn’t seem so. You truly need to get a brain scan done or something.”

“Maybe,” Sanghyuk agreed. “I might actually need one,” He nodded.

Hakyeon sighed. Better to get it over with. “I don’t have the permission to get out of the house unsupervised,”

It was Sanghyuk’s turn to gape. “What the fuck? How does that make any sense?”

It pulled a slight smile from Hakyeon. He found it admirable, and maybe just a tad adorable that he was getting angry on Hakyeon’s behalf. Reckless, too, of course. “It’s just the way it is. I’m sorry, I forgive you. I won’t hold anything against you, so please, don’t try to unnecessarily get into trouble for my sake. It’s useless. I’ve already come to terms with it. It would be better if you do as well. Goodbye.” Hakyeon walked away, back to the car, back to his confinement.

Sanghyuk stood on the spot, staring stupidly at the spot Hakyeon last stood in, Hakyeon’s hint of a smile reeling through his mind, making his heart pound and ache to see the effect of the real thing and not just a ghost of it.

He didn’t think he would be leaving Hakyeon alone, after all.

 

 ~>▲<~

 

Jaehwan tapped his foot on the ground, a chute of champagne in his hand and the other holding his phone. He was sat at the corner of a booth in one of the local bars, awaiting the company of an acquaintance. He wasn’t sure they were friends, as they mostly only met when Jaehwan neared his heats, hence he preferred to address the man, the Alpha, as an acquaintance, one who was very much necessary at times.

His phone dinged as he looked up towards the doorway to see whether his company was there yet.

 _Thank You, Jaehwan-ssi_  
This is Hongbin, You met me in the morning  
**+12983987484**  
  
Jaehwan smiled at the message.

 _Of course! I’d help you whenever!_  
It was nice meeting you! ^^  
**Jaehwan**

He replied. He saved the number, who knew, maybe they’d be the best of friends one day. He found the man cute.

 _You saved my life._  
My parents can be a little hard to deal with  
At times  
Most times  
You really helped  
**BinBun**

 _It was my pleasure!_  
Don’t go forgetting me now!  
I’d love to be friends *_*  
**Jaehwan**

“You seem happy,” The voice broke Jaehwan’s tryst with his phone and he looked up.

“Ah, you’re here!” Jaehwan jumped to his feet and tucked his phone into his coat pocket. He went around the table to give the alpha a squeeze and a hug.

“Hi there,” Wonshik smiled as he held Jaehwan close. It had been a while since they’d last met.


	4. Cross your heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wonshik tries to not behave like a love struck idiot, but I guess he fails? Badly, I might need to add.  
> And Jaehwan ignores him, as usual. But not really.  
> Sanghyuk is simply still thinking about Hakyeon's not smile.  
> And Hakyeon and Taekwoon, well, they're not happy. And that shouldn't be a surprise anymore.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop! I don't need warnings for this chapter! Am I happy or what?

**__ **

Hakyeon knew he was late, he was very much aware of just how much time he’d spent on the streets. He’d needed a breather and had asked the driver to take him on a drive close to the river, just to feel the freshness. The driver had disagreed at first, he was scared he might lose his job, and Hakyeon had assured him he wouldn’t let that happen.

It was close to seven in the evening, when the car finally pulled up to his apartment complex. Taekwoon would be home in an hour, and Hakyeon had a lot more work to do to make sure everything would be perfect for the night. He didn’t want to anger his husband once again. He’d had a swell time early in the morning as it was.

“I’m so sorry for forcing you, Minhyuk-ssi. I promise, I will let Taekwoon know it wasn’t your fault,” Hakyeon said to the driver, whose name he’d managed to learn in the time they spent outside, as he walked with him to the elevator, carrying all the grocery bags.

“No, Mr Cha. You didn’t force me. It’s alright. And, thank you very much for the job security,” Minhyuk bowed slightly, a sign of respect.

“Ah, Minhyuk-ssi, I would very much appreciate if you didn’t insist on bowing,” Hakyeon said to him as they reached his door. “I can take it from here, thank you,”

Minhyuk placed the grocery bags at Hakyeon’s doorstep and took his leave.

When Hakyeon opened the door to his home, he had expected Whiskers to come running to him and welcome him home with licks all over his face. He’d expected all the lights to have been turned off. And, he’d certainly not expected to find Taekwoon sat in the centre of the living room, facing the doorway, his expression unreadable.

“You’re home?” It came out as a question. Hakyeon stepped inside and closed the door. He didn’t have too many bags of groceries, and it wasn’t that tough to get it all in by himself.

“And you’re not.” Taekwoon stood up. “Where have you been?”

Hakyeon wondered if he should walk past Taekwoon to set the items in the kitchen or to just stand hovering at the doorway with Taekwoon stood a few spaces in front of him. “I was out at the supermarket. I was getting the groceries,” He answered, deciding to step past into the kitchens as quickly as possible.

“I sent the driver to pick you up around noon. It’s been at least six hours since,” Taekwoon stepped closer to Hakyeon, blocking his path.

Hakyeon stopped in his tracks. “I wanted to go to the river,” He figured truth was the way to go. “And Minhyuk graciously accepted to take me. I didn’t get out of the car, so no one saw me out,”

“Who’s Minhyuk? The driver? Why do you know his name?” Taekwoon didn’t like anybody speaking to Hakyeon or vice versa. Hakyeon was his. “Who gave him the permission to listen to you? I need to fire him,”

“I wanted some fresh air,” Hakyeon answered. “And please don’t fire him. It wasn’t his fault,”

Taekwoon took a deep breath, as if to control his emotions that were threatening to blow over, clenched fists hanging at his sides. He stopped mid-way, his frown deepening, his nose scrunched up and a snarl made its way to his lips, curling them up menacingly. He stalked forward and closed the gap between them, his hands going to clasp at Hakyeon’s shoulders.

He took another breath, making it clear he smelt something in the air surrounding Hakyeon that he was absolutely not happy with.

“Who were you with?” Taekwoon growled.

Hakyeon tried to take a step back, but Taekwoon’s grip on his shoulders kept him in place. “I was with the driver, Minhyuk. I already told you,”

Taekwoon shook his head. “You’re lying,”

Hakyeon desperately tried to send it in through the bond they shared that he wasn’t indeed even close to lying. He hadn’t left the car the whole time, only had the window opened to let in some of the cool breeze. Although, he had a feeling he knew exactly what it was that Taekwoon smelt around him. That stupid alpha had touched him, after all. Hakyeon decided to play dumb for as long as he would be allowed to.

“I’m not, Taekwoon. I was with no one else. I was at the supermarket, and there are people who work there, Taekwoon, and I might have accidentally touched one or two of them. It isn’t anybody’s fault. I don’t know how to prove it to you,” Hakyeon replied. The bags of groceries had long since fallen to the floor. He couldn’t keep holding on to them. He still vaguely wondered where in the world Whiskers has disappeared to. Maybe he’d run away from his angry husband and hid in a safe spot in the house. He had to wonder how Whiskers still had any affection left for the man, considering he cowered from him most times.

Taekwoon sent him a look.

Hakyeon wasn’t sure what that look meant. He’d never seen such an expression on his face. It seemed almost vulnerable, for the lack of a better word. Almost as if Taekwoon was hurting, and it was all Hakyeon’s fault. He didn’t understand. It was all so new. He’d angered Taekwoon, sure, and he knew how to deal with an angry Taekwoon. But the look Taekwoon had given him clearly screamed at him that Taekwoon was upset, something Hakyeon had absolutely no idea how to go about dealing with.

Taekwoon let his shoulders go.

Taekwoon’s hands went back to their fisted form and Hakyeon swore it was palpable, the amount of anger and hurt that radiated off of Taekwoon’s very being. It was terrifying, to say the least.

Hakyeon stepped forward, trying to reach out and touch Taekwoon’s hands, his shoulder, his chest, his cheek, or just any part of him.

Taekwoon jerked back when his husband managed to reach his cheek. His eyes snapped to Hakyeon’s in warning. His breathing became extremely shallow and rapid. His heart was beating fast and strong, his blood pumping with just as much vigour. He couldn’t put to words the emotions that coursed through him, making him see red. Hakyeon was supposed to be _his_.

“Taekwoon,” Hakyeon tried once again. He could feel the bond begin to close off bit by bit, almost excruciatingly slow. He couldn’t pin point what was going on. Taekwoon hadn’t ever behaved the way he was then. He’d never held off his anger. Hakyeon had been sure it wasn’t going to be a smooth sailing night the second he’d stepped in and found his husband home. But he felt so lost. He didn’t know how to salvage the situation.

Taekwoon jerked in his spot, as if the mere voice of Hakyeon sent shivers up his spine, and not the good kind. He stepped out of his husband’s range when Hakyeon tried to grab his wrist and slowly reached the wall with the hooks that kept their keys safely rung. He picked up his car keys and without a word, he flew out the door, leaving Hakyeon with his hands still out stretched.

Hakyeon’s jaw fell open. He looked down at his hands that were still suspended in the air. He brought them close and hugged himself. He wasn’t entirely clear with what had transpired in the mere minutes that he’d been home in. He wasn’t even sure what Taekwoon was doing home that early. He tried to get his phone out of his pockets when it hit him.

It was a sudden pull on every nerve fibre of his, the tingling lasted a mere few seconds, yet it left him panting and clutching on to the nearest wall, to keep himself standing upright. His bond mark hadn’t stopped stinging since before Taekwoon had decided to leave. It was closing, and he tried to reach blindly through the haze to make it stop, but in vain. He heaved in deep breaths, trying to soothe his body down when Whiskers decided to peek from underneath the couch in the living room.

Whiskers strutted forward and jumped into Hakyeon’s arms, pushing his cheek against his chest and purred softly. Hakyeon gave up on the effort it took to remain standing and slid down to the floor with his back to the wall. The pain came in episodes that were starting to become more and more frequent and intense. A sort of darkness began to creep up into his vision and he clutched on to Whiskers with all his strength, afraid if he let go he might lose himself.

He fumbled with the coat he’d thrown to the floor in an attempt to rid himself of the heat that had started to creep up his very spine, throwing vines and branches to climb up and down the rest of his body. With Whiskers safely tucked under one arm, he managed to pull his phone out of one of the pockets, and quickly pressed the speed dial that was set to reach Taekwoon at all times.

The phone rang. But, it took Hakyeon a while to realise what he was hearing was the ringtone of his husband’s phone, and the sound was coming from the general direction of the coffee table that was just a few spaces away from his perch on the ground. Taekwoon might have disregarded the phone as he left in a hurry. How in the world was Hakyeon to reach him before the darkness fully overtook him? He simply couldn’t believe that the bond was closing off faster than earlier.

Hakyeon shivered. His body involuntarily began to shake, and he wrapped both his hands around Whiskers, seeking a tiny bit of relief. The connection being cut off hurt him. The pain he was feeling was worse than any other kind of pain he’d ever felt in his life. It felt like it could kill him. His vision was starting to become blurry. He wasn’t even able to feel Whiskers’ licks. Sure, Taekwoon would sometimes send in slightly negative feelings through the bond, but he’d never imagined the kind of distress closing off the bond would bring him.

Hakyeon shot the pin to open his phone once again, scrolling through his contacts to find someone reliable that he could ask for help from. He didn’t know many people, and most of his contacts were of the workers in Taekwoon’s company, and a few omegas from before he’d gotten married, none of them he’d bothered to keep in touch with after. It came as no surprise that he had no friends, but the realisation only pushed him closer to the darkness that was pulling him in, almost like a black hole he wouldn’t be able to escape from.

Tears had begun to stream down his face and he couldn’t help the hiccups that were wracking his entire body. He was sobbing, helpless, with no one he could depend on. He’d never felt more of a waste of space as he did sat on the floor of his living room with no way of fixing whatever the hell had gone down. He just wanted Taekwoon to come back and help him out of the burning pain. If Taekwoon was the cause of it, maybe he’d know how to make it alright. All he could do was hope.

His eyes narrowed in on one of the names in his contact list, a person who he knew would be willing to help, no matter the time of the night.

His fingers stopped scrolling. Whiskers in one hand and his phone in the other, he began to wonder.

His mind began to run at a million miles per hour speed, trying to understand whether or not that person would be able to help. It seemed a bit far-fetched, to think he wanted to pull himself out of the cloying haze that felt like it was draining him of the very essence of his life, but Sanghyuk’s words about how nobody deserved to die without a single happy memory, wouldn’t stop playing at the back of his head. And he wanted to at least try. It couldn’t hurt, could it?

He hadn’t spoken to his friend in a few months. Not since it was made public that the man’s engagement had been broken. Hakyeon knew better than to fault his friend for it, but Taekwoon had other opinions about the entire situation.

Hakyeon had been forbidden from ever contacting Hongbin again. Taekwoon said it was to not tarnish their own names, as if it was Hongbin’s fault, and when Taekwoon had said that to him, he desperately wanted to shake some sense into his husband. He knew better than to not do it, though.

But then again, there wasn’t anyone to stop him from getting the help he so clearly needed. Taekwoon had put him in one of his worst conditions to date, and he had no one else to rely on.

He swiped his finger right, and waited for the phone to connect.

Consequences could be dealt with when necessary.

 

~>▲<~

 

It had been hours since Hakyeon had left the premises of the super market, yet Sanghyuk couldn’t help but let his mind wander back to the ghost of a smile the man had almost flashed at him. Even when the conversation hadn’t left him in high spirits later on, he was just as intrigued with Hakyeon as he’d been at the wedding the previous night, if not more. He’d desperately wanted to run behind him once again, but thought better of it at the last minute, when he remembered how his husband had behaved.

“Earth to Sanghyuk!” Sungjae waved his hand rapidly in front of Sanghyuk’s eyes, trying to catch his attention.

Sanghyuk snapped back to the present, smiling sheepishly at his co-worker. He scratched at the back of his neck with one hand, a slight flush overtaking his cheeks. “Ah, I’m sorry. I’d zoned out, hadn’t I?”

Sungjae shook his head. “That’s alright, you’ve been this way since you’d left your counter to run behind that man in the afternoon. I’ve learnt to deal with it,” He sighed dramatically, pulling himself up on to the empty billing belt of Sanghyuk’s work station.

It was past working time, and the cashiers were told to categorise the piles of coins and notes separately according to their value and bagged in Ziploc packets that would then need to be handed over to their manager to be kept in the safe. Apparently, the money earned at the end of the week would then be taken to be deposited in the bank. He was still very much interested in learning more of the behind the scenes work that went into running a franchise as the one he began to work at.

Sanghyuk scowled. “That’s not entirely true! I’ve done my work. I don’t think I’ve done a bad job at it,” He grumbled. He was positive most of his day passed by without much incident. He’d even learnt to deal with unruly kids and unrulier parents. He was quite proud, so to say, that he managed pretty well. He hadn’t even snapped at a single customer.

Sungjae laughed, swinging his legs slightly. “If you say so,” He jumped off the counter and ran to his own station, sticking his tongue out at Sanghyuk. He picked his bags up. “Hurry up, slow poke. I’m dying to get some rest,” He stretched and cracked his knuckles.

Sanghyuk would have run to catch him but he was exhausted as well and he wanted nothing more than to get back home as quickly as possible, and dive into his bed, even if all he had was a shitty mattress that only served to give him a terrible back ache. Home was calling him.

But there was something he wanted to do more than get the necessary rest. And, that was to talk to Jaehwan. After the surprise meeting with Hakyeon, he had felt an overwhelming sense of pride for his friend for being able to stand up to what he believed in, and he’d felt the urge to run to Jaehwan and give him a long hug. He was aware Jaehwan’s parents were much better than most omegas’ parents, yet he knew without a doubt, that Jaehwan must have had incidents where he suffered as well.

He got his phone out of his back pocket and shot his friend a text.

  
_Hey, you free?_  
10:15 p.m.  
**Sanghyuk**

Grabbing the rest of his things, he left the supermarket with Sungjae. He figured Jaehwan would hit him up when he had the time. He could freshen up in the meantime. Take a shower and organise his thoughts in a proper way. It was much needed, after all.

~>▲<~

 

Wonshik settled into the plush sofa seat across from Jaehwan when the latter let him go. He was still smiling when Jaehwan beckoned for the waiter and as they placed their orders. Jaehwan to him meant so much more than what Jaehwan probably even found himself to be worthy of. He knew, Jaehwan saw him as nothing more than an acquaintance, someone who was more of a necessity, an alpha who could help him through his heats.

He’d always wanted more, having found Jaehwan to be an amazing individual, one with a myriad of faces he had gotten to witness over a period of what he remembered to be almost four years. He’d almost come close to confessing a couple of times, but had lost the nerve to come clean. He was afraid of rejection. He was human as well, after all. The need to protect himself against heart ache of the worst kind weighted more than his need to be with Jaehwan, to make their relationship exclusive, official.

He watched Jaehwan talk animatedly about what a friend of his was up to, not paying much mind to words, but instead mesmerised by the way his mouth moved as he enunciated specific words in a way that was special to only him. Wonshik could watch Jaehwan jabber about anything and everything forever. It was, so to say, aesthetically pleasing. He could write songs to celebrate Jaehwan’s voice, ballads to Jaehwan’s random hand movements as he talked, odes to his lips, and just about every other part of Jaehwan he found endearing. In simpler words, he was smitten.

Lost in thoughts and fantasies, he’d not realised the soft melody flitting into his day dreams belonged to that of his ringtone. Not until Jaehwan got up from his spot, an expression of mild concern creasing the skin between his brows that Wonshik desperately wanted to smoothen out the folds of. He almost did as well, but before he could reach out, he felt Jaehwan’s hand on his shoulder, shaking him slightly.

“Wonshik, you’re not listening to me either. Why in the world do I only associate myself with people who don’t care about me? It’s so exhausting to keep talking when the other person doesn’t even bother,” Jaehwan was ranting when Wonshik had broken out of his thoughts.

“What? No – I,” Wonshik stuttered, trying to salvage the situation.

Jaehwan placed a hand on his hip and send his companion a look that made Wonshik shut his mouth.

“Don’t even try to give me stupid excuses, young man. I asked you a question twice and you didn’t even bother answering,” Jaehwan scowled at him before turning on his heel and going around the table to plop back into his seat, releasing a sigh. He was so done with all of his friends ignoring him. Sanghyuk and Wonshik could go and die, and he couldn’t care less.

“What did you ask?” Wonshik tried.

“I don’t remember anymore,” Jaehwan crossed his hands across his chest and glared at him.

“Look, I’m sorry. I was just a bit preoccupied,” Wonshik fiddled with his fingers, trying to give Jaehwan his version of the puppy eyes, but knowing him, he probably failed miserably. He might have ended up looking constipated, instead.

“Never mind,” Jaehwan sighed. He propped an elbow on the table and vaguely gestured in the direction of Wonshik’s coat before laying his face on the propped hand. “You had a phone call. You might want to check it out. The person called twice already. Seriously, what were you even thinking about that you didn’t even hear that obnoxiously loud ring tone?”

Wonshik bit on his tongue to keep from spouting out a “You,” that was resting at the tip of it. He shook his head, lowering it slightly before looking back up sheepishly. “Would you mind if I check it?”

“No shit, Sherlock. I just told you to do the same,” Jaehwan answered, clearly still bothered by the lack of attention he had gotten from the other.

“I’m sorry,” Wonshik muttered and pulled his phone out. There certainly were two missed calls, but it was from an unknown number. He figured if there was an emergency, the person would call once again. He placed the phone on the table beside the glass of water, just to make it easier to pick the call up if there was another one.

“Aren’t you going to call back?” Jaehwan asked.

“No, it was from an unknown number,”

Jaehwan nodded.

Silence fell over them. Jaehwan refused to talk and Wonshik was afraid, if he were to start talking, he might end up with a black eye and God forbid, blue balls, in the best case scenario and he couldn’t bring himself to even think about the worst case scenario.  

“So, what have you been doing nowadays?” Wonshik asked. He tried to telepathically communicate with the waiter to bring out their food faster. Maybe that would help the situation.

“You didn’t seem interested when I was talking about it. Why bother asking me now?” Jaehwan huffed. He absently played with the straw placed in the glass of water. Seriously, though, who in their right mind sipped water with a straw? Some prissy princess, probably, who’d be afraid to get her lips dirty.

Wonshik clasped his hands together and intertwined his fingers, looking for something to ground him. “Look, I’m really sorry. I won’t ignore you again. I wasn’t even aware of it, but you can’t blame me. You lips are enchanting to watch when you speak, and I –,” Wonshik’s hand flew to clamp his mouth shut. His face heated faster than those damn hot packs did in winter. “Uhhh,” Well shit, he screwed up.

Jaehwan whipped his face to turn towards Wonshik, his mouth hanging open, a faint flush creeping about his neck that was quickly climbing to cover his entire face in a lovely shade of reddish pink. “You,” He started, his hands flailing about him. “What?” He swore he must have looked cross eyed.

It would have been hilarious, Jaehwan’s actions and panic, if Wonshik wasn’t the reason for his confusion. Wonshik sighed, burying his face in his hands, silently cursing himself for having no brain-to-mouth filter whatsoever. He should know better than to open his mouth without thinking through his words.

He opened his mouth once, twice, and then once again, but no words came out. Thankfully, the waiter appeared at their table with trays laden with the foods and drinks they had ordered, and Wonshik welcomed the distraction with such relief, he almost didn’t notice his phone’s ringtone again, until Jaehwan nudged him with the toe of his shoe, effectively snapping him out of his thoughts for the second time that night.

Smiling apologetically, Wonshik picked the phone off the table and brought it to his ear to answer. “Hello, may I know who’s on the line please? Ah, hyung? What number is… Wait are you okay? You sound… Good Lord…. Hyung, go back home. No, I’m not…. What do you…. He must be in pain…. I’m….A pub near the studio….I’m with someone….. Okay, fine,”

Swiping to hang the phone call, Wonshik sighed. He looked up at Jaehwan. “I’m sorry again, it seems like all I’m doing tonight is apologising to you, but would you mind if we had company? A friend of mine seems to have gotten himself into trouble,”

Jaehwan had watched and heard his side of the conversation, and from what little he understood, the person on the phone certainly sound less than alright. “I don’t mind,” He decided. “Maybe all he needs is some company to feel better?”

“I don’t really know about that,” Wonshik pinched the bridge of his nose. “I’d rather he went home instead. He sounded really bad and drinking will only make him worse. And he said something about his husband cheating on him and I don’t believe it. I just hope my friend hasn’t done something stupid.”

 “Do you want me to leave?” Jaehwan asked, pushing his food aside. It must have been something urgent and personal for Wonshik’s friend if he was desperate enough to call him thrice in a span of less than fifteen minutes.

“No,” Wonshik was quick to say, motioning to Jaehwan to sit back down. “Please, stay. I don’t know what he’s done and I may need some help anyway,” Maybe he was being selfish, but he didn’t want to cut his time with Jaehwan short over the whole ordeal.

Jaehwan nodded and settled back into his seat. He had a feeling it was going to be a long night, and it was barely nine in the evening.


	5. Midnight, Somwehere

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Taekwoon meets with Wonshik. They have an argument.  
> Hongbin fucking hates Taekwoon.  
> No Sanghyuk, sadly ;/

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wohoo! I'm late! I was supposed to post this a few days ago, almost a week ago IG? \  
> Oh well.  
> Do enjoy.  
> Please do leave me comments and kudos, they're my life source and keep me writing!

**__ **

Cold, and hungry, Taekwoon wandered about the streets of Seoul, hoping the traffic passing by as the last of the office workers headed back home would take his mind off things, off of how Hakyeon had come home distinctly smelling of another alpha. Hakyeon was supposed to be his husband, and by default, he should have only been allowed to smell like him. He didn’t want anyone else touching what was his. It disturbed him beyond what he thought possible.

Albeit, he did know at the back of his mind that Hakyeon hadn’t taken any drastic step to ruin their relationship, he still couldn’t bear the thought of his Hakyeon touching another person, or vice versa. He shuddered at the thought. It didn’t sit well with him.

 He belatedly realised that he’d left his mobile phone at home when he’d rushed out with only the car keys, when he’d patted himself down to find it and give a call to Wonshik, to get a clearer perspective on what was to be done.  He was lost, wandering about the streets of Seoul in the dead of winter and with no coat on.

He was far more unsettled than when he’d left home, when he realised that he’d closed off their bond unintentionally. Darkness and an abject feeling of loneliness was all he felt when he tried to reach out and it shook him bone deep. It could only have meant one thing. Hakyeon had closed off the bond from his side as well. For whatever reason, that made the situation worse for him as he began to imagine situations that were possibly a little too far from reality, but he couldn’t stop once he started.

The what ifs his mind procured out of thin air made him want to run back home and catch Hakyeon red handed. Why else would he close off the bond as well, if not for the fact that he was keeping secrets from Taekwoon? Why else other than the fact that Hakyeon was probably lying in the arms of the alpha he had come home smelling like? But, he simply couldn’t go back home at that point. He felt far too broken.

He found the nearest telephone booth and tried to reach Wonshik before he lost anymore of his mind. Finally when on the third try he managed, he sagged with relief. Feeding the address to the pub into his navigator, he followed the instructions as quickly as possible and parked his car within the next few minutes. Wonshik was probably the only one who could help him at that point.

Taekwoon staggered over to the table Wonshik was seated at and plopped right into the seat next to him, startling both Wonshik and his companion. He fell half onto the table and half onto Wonshik’s shoulder, the chill finally getting to him. He knew his teeth were chattering but he couldn’t feel it. He simply let his gaze rest on the table in front of him.

“Hyung?” Wonshik reached out tentatively towards Taekwoon, trying not to startle him.

Taekwoon jerked at Wonshik’s touch as if burned. He curled more into himself, trying to make his body as small as possible, trying to fit it into the cushions of the slightly uncomfortable pub seat. He placed his hands on top of his ears, covering them. The noise wasn’t what was bothering him. Rather, it was the complete lack of response from Hakyeon that was getting to him.

“Hyung, look at me,” Wonshik placed his hands firmly on Taekwoon’s shoulders and half turned him around, trying to catch his gaze.

Taekwoon slowly looked up at Wonshik.

“What the hell happened? I can’t help if you don’t tell me,” Wonshik tried to reason.

Jaehwan simply watched with growing recognition as to who the person who had suddenly dropped in was. His hand itched to grab his phone and shoot Sanghyuk a text, but he decided that could wait till he found out what was happening. It seemed quite adverse.

Taekwoon opened his mouth. He wanted to explain. But, a sudden bout of pain shook him and he doubled over, his face scrunched up and hissing noises spewing out of his mouth.

“Hyung, what the hell” Wonshik stood up, pulling Taekwoon up with him, holding him in place so Taekwoon didn’t slide to the floor. “There’s something really wrong,” He looked to Jaehwan who watched with a similar expression of worry. Neither of them knew what to do.

“Wonshik. The bond,” Was all Taekwoon could manage. He was gasping for breath.

“What bond?” Wonshik asked, and suddenly Taekwoon grabbed Wonshik’s arm and dug his fingertips into it, a tad stabilised.

“Hakyeon is cheating on me, Wonshik. He closed off the bond. I’m extremely sure that he’s with that alpha right about now,” Taekwoon plopped down into the cushions, unable to keep standing for long.

Wonshik sat with him. “That’s not possible, hyung. Hakyeon wouldn’t do that. You know him,”

Taekwoon shook his head. “You don’t understand, Wonshik. He doesn’t even talk to me much more than what’s necessary. I don’t know what’s going on with him anymore. I don’t know. If anything, he avoids me as much as possible,”

Wonshik searched Taekwoon’s face, trying to see if his friend truly believed that Hakyeon was at fault. “Hyung,” He started quietly.

Taekwoon regarded him. “Yes?”

“Hyung, when was the last time you took him out? Just the two of you? Or the last time you paid him attention? Told him he looked nice, or complimented his cooking, or asked him if there was something he wanted to do? Let him out of the house without constant supervision? Let him go do what he used to love?”

Taekwoon recoiled from Wonshik’s hold. “I… What are you trying to say?” His voice started to harden.

“Hyung, Hakyeon is just as much a person as you are. He has things he wants to do too. You can’t keep him locked in your home forever. He’s bound to be miserable. You’re married, for heavens’ sake. You’re supposed to treat him like an equal. Not someone you have at home for chores. They’re called servants, not spouses,”

“I don’t fuck my servants, Wonshik,” Taekwoon simply muttered. “How the fuck can Hakyeon be my equal? He’s an omega. Omegas can never be an alpha’s equal,”

Before Wonshik could refute his words, they both heard a scoff from the other side of the table. Wonshik felt sorry for making Jaehwan listen to all the bullshit, while Taekwoon only got angrier when he realised Jaehwan was an omega.

“Is this what is making you soft?” Taekwoon gestured in the general direction of Wonshik, not letting his eyes waver from his. “What were you doing at this time out in public with an omega? Have you lost it?”

“Excuse me, Mr Jung, but I can speak for myself. I don’t need a mouthpiece. If you have any trouble with me being here, well, that’s your problem. And I don’t see why I shouldn’t be out with a person I consider my friend,” Jaehwan folded his arms across his chest, fixing Taekwoon his best glare. “I’m not leaving,”  

Wonshik shot Jaehwan a grateful smile before turning back to Taekwoon. “Look, hyung. That’s where you’re wrong. Give Hakyeon some freedom and let him enjoy his life and he’ll come talk to you himself. He isn’t the sort of person to back out of commitments. You know that very well. Don’t behave like you don’t know what I’m talking about,”

“What would you know,” Taekwoon scoffed.

“I’d know because I was just as much his friend as you were before he presented. I haven’t been allowed to meet him in forever, but that doesn’t mean I forgot the sort of person he was,”

“People change, Wonshik,” Taekwoon averted his eyes.

“I can see that clearly, hyung.“ He let the implication hang in the air between them.

“Are you blaming me now, Wonshik?” Taekwoon raised an eyebrow.

“You haven’t told me why you think he’s cheating on you,” Wonshik didn’t know how to reply to his question.

Taekwoon sensed Wonshik was changing the subject and decided to let it go. “He came home smelling like an alpha,”

Wonshik was beyond surprised. “Wait. You let him out of the house willingly?”

Jaehwan was surprised that was what had caught Wonshik’s attention and he couldn’t help but silently wonder just how much Hakyeon was not living. “No wonder he wanted to commit suicide,” He muttered under his breath.

Taekwoon had heard it, but he decided against deeming that with a reply, mainly because Wonshik hadn’t heard him and was still awaiting Taekwoon’s reply. “Mr Kim was busy and he fucking forgot about not having groceries at home. He’d already served me eggs in the morning so I had no choice,”

“And he was at the grocery store,” Wonshik concluded.

“Yes, but he also said he went to get some fresh air at the river. He came back home really late. Who the fuck knows what he was truly doing all the time? I wasn’t there, and neither was Mr Kim. He could have done anything and we wouldn’t know,” Taekwoon spat. He really shouldn’t have let Hakyeon go out by himself.

Wonshik sighed, exasperated. “You know what, blame him all you want. I trust him. I know he would never do anything to break that. You can believe what you want, but please, let him live a little,”

Taekwoon stepped back, away from the table. “You still think I’m in the wrong. I shouldn’t have come to you,”

“Hyung, why can’t you just accept your faults?” Wonshik was at his wit’s end.

“Alphas are never wrong,” Taekwoon threw those words at Wonshik and sending one last glare to Jaehwan, he spun on his heel and stormed out of the pub. He couldn’t believe Wonshik was trying to get him to apologise to Hakyeon. How could he do that? He was the alpha, he was the earning one, he was supposed to be the authority. How else would Hakyeon be able to entrust his life to him if Taekwoon wasn’t strong enough?

Taekwoon couldn’t be soft. He couldn’t let himself fall into omegas’ traps like Wonshik did. Wonshik would only end up ruining his life. Wonshik was a fool. Taekwoon was not. He knew clearly that authority and respect would only come by if they stood their ground.

His father wasn’t wrong.

He’d been taught well.

 

~>▲<~

 

When Hongbin saw the name flash across his screen, to say he was surprised was probably an understatement. He was beyond startled. He hadn’t expected to ever see that name on his phone screen again. Hakyeon.

He debated silently whether or not to pick up the phone. He remembered the last time he did, just after his engagement had been broken off, and it was Hakyeon’s husband, Taekwoon, who had called to let him know that Hakyeon wouldn’t be contacting him any longer.

Hongbin had felt betrayed. It wasn’t his fault. Why was it that he was the one being blamed when it was Sanghyuk who broke the deal? Why was Hongbin being regarded as something faulty, as someone unworthy? He couldn’t understand why his best friend was being taken away from him. He didn’t think it was fair.

He’d desperately wanted to hold on to Hakyeon. He tried to fight tooth and nail. He was initially pissed at Hakyeon for not trying hard enough, but he also knew what sort of a person Taekwoon was and he didn’t want Hakyeon to be in anymore misery than he already was in. He accepted it as a fact that Hakyeon was to be a closed chapter in his life.

He was broken out of his thoughts when the phone began to ring once again, anew. Curiosity getting the better of him, he picked the phone up and spoke into it, a slight edge to his voice. He couldn’t be entirely sure who it was on the other side of the phone until he heard the voice. “Hello?”

All he heard were gasps and breaths for a few seconds before he heard another gasp that sounded extremely similar to how his name was pronounced, and Hongbin’s heart sped up. It was undoubtedly Hakyeon’s voice, he would be able to tell that even in his dreams, but Hakyeon had never sounded as broken as he did right then.

“Hakyeon?” He breathed into the phone, clutching on to the table he was seated at with all his might.

“Bin,” Hakyeon spoke into the receiver, his voice stronger than before but just as breathless, trying to hold off the tears for a while so he could explain the situation to Hongbin. “Help,” was all he could manage before another bout of pain wracked his body and he gasped, clutching on to Whiskers for dear life.

Hongbin’s mouth immediately became parched. It was like Hongbin’s phone could pick up the agony Hakyeon was in and was transmitting it to him through the receiver. “Where are you?” He pulled himself away from his table, assignments be damned and he threw on the first coat he found, already on the way out of his room. If someone dared to stop him, they’d be seeing hell.

“Home,” Hakyeon croaked.

“I’ll be there,” Hongbin hung the phone, throwing glares at every servant who asked him where he was going. He grabbed the keys off the holder and decided to drive the car himself. His parents weren’t home, some party or whatever, and he didn’t have the obligation to answer anyone else.

He’d never driven a car as crazily as he did right then, his foot permanently on the accelerator. He was clearly breaking traffic rules, but he couldn’t care less. Hakyeon sounded bad, really bad, and he couldn’t waste any time dilly dallying on the road and observing traffic rules, especially when the roads were as empty as they were.

He made it to Hakyeon’s apartment building in record time and shot inside the elevator that was thankfully waiting for him at the first floor. As the elevator rode up, he couldn’t help but let the fear of something really bad having happened to Hakyeon seep into him. He hoped beyond all hopes that Taekwoon wasn’t the cause of whatever had happened, or God save him because Hongbin would hunt him down. The bastard.

Hongbin stood outside Hakyeon’s door, listening to any sounds from inside, knowing full well it was sound proofed. Probably one of Taekwoon’s sick fantasies, so no one outside would know what he did to Hakyeon. Hongbin shivered involuntarily, and he punched in the passcode, hoping it hadn’t changed.

It hadn’t.

The door opened and Hongbin stepped in, closing the door behind him. There were grocery bags very close to the entryway, as if they had fallen from the hands of whoever was holding them, some of the contents spilling out. The rest of the living room seemed untouched. At least, he could rule out a break in.  

 Whimpers flittered into his ears the longer he stood at the entryway and he stepped in cautiously. Whiskers was no-where to be found. Maybe he was with Hakyeon. He walked into the apartment, side stepping a fallen chair or two before he found Hakyeon in the long corridor that connected their living room and bedroom.

Hakyeon had his back to the wall, his legs bent at the knees, his head on his knees and Whiskers giving him tiny licks as he tried to soothe him in the best way he could. Tiny sobs wracked his body and every now and then, moans of anguish would spew out and Hongbin stood at the start of the corridor, frozen in spot.

He shook himself out of it and slid to the floor, coming to a rest at Hakyeon’s head and ran his fingers lightly through his sweat slicked hair. “Hakyeon?”

Hakyeon raised his head, trying to focus on Hongbin through his blurry eyesight and tried to give him a watery smile. “You came,”

If Hongbin was beyond surprised when Hakyeon had given him a call, he as positive there was no word in the dictionary that could describe what he was feeling as he took in Hakyeon’s dishevelled appearance, with his crumpled clothes, his face streaked with tears. He didn’t even want to look beneath Hakyeon’s face, afraid of what he would find. Maybe later.

“Of course I did. Why wouldn’t I?” Hongbin asked, with a smile of his own. He pulled Whiskers into his arms and set him free. He then took Hakyeon’s shoulders in his hands and asked, “What happened to you, Hakyeon?”

Hakyeon flinched slightly when Hongbin touched him. His body was still on fire. There had been a moment when he felt Taekwoon reach out, but before he could pull himself out of the darkness and respond back, Taekwoon had sealed the bond off once again, leaving Hakyeon disoriented.

“Taekwoon closed off the bond. It hurts, Bin. It hurts like a fucking bitch,” Hakyeon muttered, closing his eyes and willing the tears to stop. He didn’t like to seem vulnerable in front of others, even if that other was his best friend. He tried to focus instead on the circles Hongbin had taken to pressing into his shoulders with his thumbs. It helped, albeit just a bit.

Hongbin was surprised for the third time that night. In all their years of friendship, Hongbin could count on one hand the amount of times Hakyeon swore. It was seen as unbecoming of an omega to swear, and Hakyeon had always been forced to behave like a proper omega all his life. Him wearing could only mean that was how much agony he was in. It shook Hongbin.

Hongbin could only watch as Hakyeon closed his eyes once again, his face distorting once again as another episode of swirling negative emotions hit him at once, mixed in with anger and some emotions that he just couldn’t place.

Hongbin tried to reach out and help, but he didn’t know what to do, simply watching with a sick feeling in his stomach and Hakyeon held his tears off. Hongbin wanted to ease the pain off, but he didn’t know how to. He was no alpha, and as much support as he could provide, he wasn’t sure Hakyeon could feel better with just him.

“Should I call Taekwoon?” Hongbin asked as Hakyeon calmed a bit. It wasn’t something he wanted to do, but he was also not sure there was any other option.

Hakyeon shook his head slightly. “His phone is here,”

“Bastard,” Hongbin clenched his fists. To say he hated Taekwoon was laughably underselling his feelings towards that excuse of a man.

“No,” Hakyeon muttered quietly. “Don’t say that,”

Hongbin stared at Hakyeon like he lost his mind. Maybe he had, maybe the pain was making him think weirdly. Maybe his brain was getting affected. “What the hell do you mean?”

“He got upset at me and left. It was my fault,” Hakyeon tried to explain.

“And why did he get upset?” Hongbin was sure he wouldn’t like the answer. “Did you get out of the house without informing him?” He remembered the last time Hakyeon had called him in pain and asked him what would be the best way to soothe some of it enough to drag himself through the day. Physical pain could be cured. Hakyeon that day had been broken both physically and emotionally.

Hakyeon shook his head once again. “I was at the grocery store. And I may have touched an alpha accidentally,”

Hongbin couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “So now it’s your fault for having touched another human being? Hakyeon, do you hear yourself? What the hell has happened to you?” For as long as Hongbin had known Hakyeon, Hakyeon was always the epitome of bravery and of not letting stupid people dictate his life, yet in the mere years that he had been married to Taekwoon, he had changed drastically. Just what was Taekwoon doing to Hakyeon?

“That’s not it, Bin. You don’t understand. You know how possessive he gets,”

Hongbin wanted to scream at Hakyeon to get his head out of wherever he had hidden it. “That’s not excusable, Hakyeon, and you know it. Stop trying to defend that man,” He spat. “Look, I don’t fucking care if you’re sleeping with another alpha, but that man has no right to do this to you. You know it just as well as I do,”

Hakyeon averted his eyes at the intensity of Hongbin’s stare. He knew, he most definitely did. But he had no way out. He was in a committed relationship, something that couldn’t be broken easily. “It’s not that simple, Hongbin. I’m married to him,”

“Marriages can be broken, Hakyeon,” Hongbin said quietly, letting silence envelop them as Hakyeon took in his words.

Hakyeon closed his eyes once again, letting another episode of pain pass before he replied. “And breaking the bond would kill me, Hongbin. When closing the bond is hurting this much, I wouldn’t even want my bond to be broken,”

“Tell me how to help right now. I can’t bear to see you like this,” Hongbin stood up and went to the kitchen, pouring some water into Whiskers’ bowl and opening a can of cat food. It was probably beyond his dinner time. He also found a handkerchief that he wet and with a bowl of water in his other hand, he went back to Hakyeon.

“You haven’t eaten yet, have you?” He asked as he placed the bowl down. He pulled Hakyeon to his feet and slowly walked him to his bedroom and laid him on the bed. “Let me make something,” He draped the wet cloth on Hakyeon’s forehead and covered him with a blanked.

Hakyeon caught his wrist as he moved. “You should leave, Hongbin. You don’t want Taekwoon to find you here,”

“Fuck him,” Hongbin shook himself out of Hakyeon’s grip and went to pick up the groceries before setting them in the right place and deciding to whip up something that wouldn’t take too much time. Fried rice was probably the easiest thing to make and he went about making the same.

Scooping some of the rice onto a plate, he walked back to the bedroom, only to find Hakyeon curled in on himself, the blanket lying beside him haphazardly and his face streaked with a fresh bout of tears. Hongbin could almost feel the pain radiate off of Hakyeon’s body in rolls and it hurt him to see Hakyeon like that. It was beyond his understanding why an omega couldn’t comfort another omega. Biology was strange that way. Only an alpha could soothe the pain, preferably the mate, but since in this case that was ruled out, Hongbin decided to hit up the only other alpha he knew.

Sanghyuk.

 

~>▲<~

 

After Taekwoon left, Wonshik and Jaehwan sat in their seats, staring at their half-eaten food, not knowing how to start a conversation, not knowing whether to ignore Taekwoon’s antics altogether, not knowing how to move forward.

Unable to take the stifling silence, Jaehwan tapped Wonshik on the arm and asked quietly, “Should we leave? Let’s meet again soon,” It was close to eleven.

Wonshik jerked slightly, and looked up to meet Jaehwan’s eyes. “What did you mean?” He asked.

Jaehwan tilted his head slightly. “That it’s late and we should leave?”

Wonshik shook his head. “No, not that. You said Hakyeon tried to kill himself,” He held up a hand when he saw Jaehwan shake his head, effectively shutting him up. “Don’t bother lying. I saw the glare Taekwoon gave you. You clearly know something,”

Jaehwan fidgeted with his fingers. “It’s not my story to tell?”

Wonshik stared at him. “I’ll just go ask Hakyeon then,”

Jaehwan stood up quickly and went to block Wonshik’s way. “No, wait. Don’t ask Hakyeon,”

“Why not?” Wonshik folded his arms across his chest.

“It might trigger him again,” Jaehwan reasoned and Wonshik had to agree.

“Then tell me,” Wonshik gestured.

“Nothing much to tell but just what can be understood from he wanted to kill himself. But if that’s the kind of person Taekwoon is, I really don’t see why he hadn’t tried it much earlier,” Jaehwan frowned.

“He wasn’t always like that,” Wonshik replied, but his protest felt weak even to his own ears. “Sorry, I’m not trying to defend him. He’s in the wrong and I don’t know how to make him see it,”

Jaehwan hummed. “He needs to understand for himself that he’s being a bastard to Hakyeon. Nothing you or I could do. And maybe Hakyeon needs to stand up for himself, too.”

“Hakyeon, he is only surrounded by alphas who dictate his life. His father, his brothers, his husband, every single one of them want Hakyeon to be the picture perfect omega. They don’t treat him like he’s a person and he’s tried, trust me, he’s tried to fight so hard against it, but in the end, he has no one to support him. You can only fall so many times before you give up. I love Taekwoon, but if he keeps this up, I’d be rooting for Hakyeon to just get out of the hell hole somehow,” Wonshik finished.

Jaehwan suddenly wanted to smother Hakyeon with all his love. Maybe Sanghyuk could actually end up helping Hakyeon. But, he’d have to figure out for himself what to do and what not to do.


	6. Every single touch, you gather and then tear it down

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hakyeon is amazed at just how good a small hug can feel.
> 
> Sanghyuk likes the warmth that radiates from Hakyeon.
> 
> Taekwoon just doesn't know how much of an idiot he'd being.
> 
> Hongbin loves Hakyeon dearly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't know if anyone is actually reading this fic, even. But that could be attributed to the tags I've put up lmao. Or it just isn't interesting enough. But, I'm having a good ish time writing, so I'll continue to keep the chapters updated as I write.
> 
> Unbeta-d again, cause well, I don't have a beta lmao. I don't even know how people get betas??? Like do I just ht someone up and be like, "Hey wanna beta a fic for me?" cause I'm not sure how that's gonna go down seeing as I'm awkward af. Oh well, if there are any glaring mistakes grammatically, do point them out so I can edit. I did try to read through and edit as much as I could.
> 
> As always, if you did enjoy, please do leave me comments and kudos. It kinda encourages any writer out there, not just me.

Hongbin sat with his head held in his hands, elbows on thighs, on a chair beside Hakyeon’s curled up form, wondering if he had done the wrong thing by contacting Sanghyuk. Sanghyuk had been reluctant at first, saying he simply couldn’t drop by a random stranger’s home to help, but Hongbin had been adamant. Plus, he was taking far too long. He didn’t know any other alpha who might even consider helping, and the only other good one he’d met a while ago, he didn’t even know the name of, let alone contact information.

He was glad Hakyeon had at least managed to eat a bit before he said he felt like throwing up. He’d said he could feel the food churn in his stomach and Hongbin told him it was alright if he wanted to rest. Hakyeon was clutching the armrest of the chair Hongbin sat in, his eyes closed shut and breathing slowly as if he was reminding himself to breathe.

He jumped slightly when he felt his phone vibrate. He’d told Sanghyuk to shoot him a text when he reached. His nerves were on edge. He had a terrible feeling and he couldn’t shake it off. What if he’d done the worst thing he could possibly have? What if Sanghyuk turned out to be one of those asshole alphas as well? He didn’t think he was, but Taekwoon had been Hakyeon’s childhood friend, and look how well that turned out. Should he ask him to go back?

He broke out of his reverie as his phone vibrated again. Sighing, he decided to let things play out. It might be rude to simply ask Sanghyuk to get out after having been persistent. He stood up, running his fingers through Hakyeon’s sweat damp hair and said quietly, “I’ll be back,”

Hakyeon nodded.

Hongbin walked to the front door and placed a hand on his beating heart, asking it to calm down before he turned the locks and opened the door. He stepped back, giving enough space for Sanghyuk to enter and closed the door behind him, locking it securely once again. He stood with his back to the door and wondered what next.

Sanghyuk shrugged out of his heavy coat. “Hey, I’m sorry it got late. This area is close to my old home. I had to take a long route to avoid anybody who might recognise me,” 

Hongbin nodded, taking the coat and placing it on the coat hanger. “That’s alright. I’m sorry for putting you in danger,” He had entirely forgotten to factor in Sanghyuk’s family situation.

“No, it’s no trouble.” Sanghyuk intertwined his fingers, letting his hands hang awkwardly in mid-air. He looked around the living room. It was big, well furnished, immaculately clean, not a thing out of place. It left him slightly unsettled. He couldn’t tell what the place was hiding behind its perfect image. And the silence, it was eerie. A home was never silent. “What am I supposed to do?” He asked Hongbin, turning to face him.

“Umm, well,” Hongbin began, fidgeting with his fingers. “You see, he doesn’t know you’re here, so he might not be hospitable right now. He’s… he’s not okay. No matter how much he tries to behave like he is, he’s breaking apart and I can’t help him. I think your just holding his hand should ease some of his pain. Can you do that?”

Sanghyuk gulped. Was it really okay for him to be in this place? “Will I not be making matters worse?” He couldn’t help but ask. “You said his husband is highly possessive,”

Hongbin avoided his gaze. “Well, you see, I’ve been asking myself the same question since I asked you to come over. But I don’t care anymore. His husband can go die for all I care.” He had made his decision. He was going to help Hakyeon no matter who stood in his way. “Come with me,” he muttered.

Sanghyuk nodded. He was torn between wanting to pull Hongbin into a hug for being so brave and not overstepping his boundaries. Instead, he settled with patting Hongbin on his back awkwardly. “I think you’re a great friend,”

Hongbin shot him a tiny smile. “Thank you. He’s my best friend, after all,” He lead Sanghyuk down the long corridor and stopped outside a closed door. “I’ll…. Uh…. I’ll go tell him there’s someone here to see him. He’s going to flip but please, don’t leave?”

Sanghyuk nodded once again and Hongbin opened the door to step inside, leaving it slightly ajar instead of closing it shut. If Sanghyuk peeked, he’d be able to look into the room. He knew it wouldn’t be welcomed and so stood off to the side, trying to tune out the frantic whispers that were slipping out. He guessed the man wasn’t happy with what Hongbin had done.

Suddenly, he felt something brush by his legs and he almost yelped, quickly clamping his mouth shut with a hand and relaxed when he noticed a patchy half white half grey semi longhair cat curl its tail around one of his legs. He bent down and reached his hand out to touch the cat and when it didn’t move to gouge his eyes out, he decided to rub behind its ear. The cat mewled and he smiled, picking the cat up into his arms and cradling it.

“Hey there buddy, what’s your name? Where were you hiding?” He asked, petting it and the cat meowed once again, licking Sanghyuk’s chest through his shirt. It tickled. A soft laugh escaped him. “You’re adorable,”

As he bent down to let the cat out of his arms, Hongbin poked his head out of the doorway and said, “You can come in I guess,”

Hongbin’s lack of confidence was concerning, but Sanghyuk tried to shake it off before smoothing his shirt down and letting himself walk through the doorway into what he assumed was the bedroom. And immediately froze when his eyes fell upon the person sitting up on the bed with his head held between his hands. His heart stopped beating in its entirety and his mouth felt parched.

“Mr Cha?” He called out uncertainly, hovering in the doorway and not stepping inside. It was almost as if he was being chained to his spot. The realisation that Hakyeon was the one Hongbin wanted him to help and that maybe he was the one responsible for his pain hit him like a freight train.

Hakyeon snapped his head up at the voice and blanched. “You.” He managed. He turned to Hongbin and narrowed his eyes at him. “Lee Hongbin, is this the friend you think who can help?” He couldn’t help the laughter that bubbled up from slipping through. He found it hilarious, that the one person who put him in that situation was the one Hongbin was under the impression could help.

Hongbin looked between Sanghyuk and Hakyeon, confused, because he hadn’t known they were acquainted with each other.

Sanghyuk ignored Hongbin’s curious glances towards him and stepped inside, and walked straight up to where Hakyeon was seated on the bed. Without much thought he brushed back Hakyeon’s bangs that fell into his eyes.

Hakyeon sobered immediately, stopping his manic laughter and shooting up in the bed, his spine straight and a glare on his face. “What the hell are you doing?”

 Sanghyuk retracted his hand. Wordlessly, he sat on the bed next to Hakyeon and grabbed his hands, rubbing small circles into Hakyeon’s skin with the pads of his thumbs. “Mr Cha, I’m not sure what happened with your husband, but he’s the worst person I’ve had the displeasure to ever meet in my life, even worse than my parents. I’m pretty sure I know why you’re in pain right now. Let me try to make it better,”

Hakyeon tried to pull away, putting up his best effort to not snap at the man to get away from him.  “You’ve done enough, Hyuk,” He sent him his best glare. “Let me go.”

Sanghyuk let his hands go when he saw discomfort flit across Hakyeon’s face, ashamed of the fact that he was possibly being just as forceful as what he assumed Taekwoon was usually like. “I’m sorry, Mr Cha. I was only trying to help.” He held his hand out in between the two of them and said, “Why don’t you touch me when you’re okay with it. I’m not your husband and we don’t share a bond, but I’m certain touching me will ease the pain,”

Hakyeon cradled his hands close to his chest. “I’m not in pain,”

Sanghyuk frowned. He didn’t understand what in the world was making Hakyeon lie about something so obvious. Albeit, Hakyeon’s face wouldn’t give away just how much pain he was holding back from showing, but the hard set shoulders of his and the straight spine clearly spoke of his agony. He could see the tension in Hakyeon’s exposed muscles, which wasn’t much, considering how he was covered from top to bottom.

“Why?” Sanghyuk croaked.

Hakyeon looked at him in question.

“Why is it that you have to behave like you’re okay, why do you have to put up such a strong front? Why can’t you give in to the pain you’re actually feeling and simply accept the help I’m willing to give? It’s not just about today, even yesterday on the balcony, you were very much in pain and you didn’t say a word. I don’t understand,”

Hakyeon averted his eyes at the question. How was he supposed to answer that? How was he supposed to explain to Sanghyuk that nobody helped without expecting something in return? And if Sanghyuk didn’t believe that, then he had a lot of growing up to do. He wondered where the hell Hongbin had disappeared to. He had something he needed to say to him.

“You do know that’s okay to show that you’re in pain, don’t you?” Sanghyuk asked.

“No, it’s not,” Hakyeon answered quietly.

Sanghyuk couldn’t begin to fathom why he felt the way. “How is it not?”

“You will not understand,” Hakyeon met his eyes. He wasn’t sure why he was even having such a conversation with an alpha. He knew beyond a doubt Hyuk wouldn’t get his point.

“Why don’t you try explaining in a way I will then?”

Hakyeon played with the blankets he was covered in. “Showing that something affects me will make me seem weak. I am anything but. I can’t let it show. I won’t. I can be strong even in the face of the worst kind trauma thrown my way. It’s how I preserve my dignity, what little is left of it, at least. ”

Hakyeon looked up to find Sanghyuk watching him intently. It unnerved him that someone could look at him that way. He couldn’t exactly pinpoint what it was, but the expression on his face screamed at him that he was wrong on so many levels. It wasn’t pity. He’d seen that emotion a few times too many to not know how icky it felt to be on the receiving end. It was something else, entirely. A little sympathy, a bit of sadness and a dash of anger.

He saw it in his eyes before he felt it, the embrace, those arms around his shoulders, that chest against his face, the fingers in his hair. He wasn’t entirely caught by surprise, yet a small cry escaped his mouth when he felt Sanghyuk’s warmth around his body. Maybe he was not completely opposed to it, secretly.

“Please, I’m so sorry for touching you without permission, but let me just hug you for a while.” Sanghyuk whispered into Hakyeon’s hair. “Please,”

He understood. He understood what Hakyeon hadn’t bothered mentioning, the underlying message. Sanghyuk couldn’t begin to fathom just how cruel life must have been to Hakyeon if he bore pain to have semblance of control over his life. It was so appalling Sanghyuk found it inhumane.

Hakyeon would have moved away, but Sanghyuk’s hand rubbed his back soothingly and he couldn’t help giving in. he shouldn’t have, but he did. The burning pain began to ease from his muscles and he felt himself relax slightly. He didn’t want to admit it, but it had been far too long since someone touched him without it having been a rebuke of some sort, without expecting him to correct his posture, without being rough. The very essence of the tiredness that clung to him similar to a layer of skin was ebbing away, the longer he held on to Sanghyuk. Was a simple embrace supposed to feel that good?

Sanghyuk tightened his grip around Hakyeon when he felt wetness against his chest. Hakyeon was shedding tears and his heart was twisting in all directions. He didn’t know if Hakyeon had realised he was crying and he wasn’t tempted to alert him in any case. Momentarily, he wondered if he was helping ease his discomfort, even if just a tiny bit.

“Are you okay?” Sanghyuk voiced after a while of silence.

Hakyeon nodded his head and put his hands on Sanghyuk’s chest to pull himself free from the embrace. His body felt good as new, even though there was yet a bit of the blaze just underneath his skin. He knew it wouldn’t all be gone unless Taekwoon opened the bond once again and touched his mark just once. But, it certainly was better than before.

Sanghyuk let go and chased the tears streaming down Hakyeon’s face with the pads of his thumbs. “Don’t apologise, please. I just hope you’re feeling better,”

Hakyeon hadn’t realised he’d shed tears. Embarrassed, he pulled free and dabbed at Sanghyuk’s wet shirt with a corner of the blanket. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to ruin your shirt,”

As he let him go entirely, Hakyeon let out a hiss as the warmth left him and the pain flared a tiny bit higher than when he was still touching Sanghyuk, but he couldn’t possibly keep holding on to him forever. “Thank you, it help –,” he suddenly couldn’t continue.

Hakyeon gasped when he felt a particularly sharp twinge of pain at his mark and his hand flew up to the junction of his neck and shoulder to cup it. He felt Taekwoon open up his bond. He felt Taekwoon reach out to him. He felt Taekwoon’s confusion at the calmness that radiated off of Hakyeon because of Sanghyuk’s soothing presence. He froze when he realised Taekwoon would be coming back soon.

He pushed Sanghyuk off the bed and got off behind him, anxiety climbing faster than tendrils of fire on a piece of paper. “You need to leave. Now. He’s coming back. I don’t know where he is so I can’t say how long he’ll take but you need to go. Hongbin. Where is he? He needs to go. Oh no, I shouldn’t have called him. Hongbin? Where are you? Bin? Please just leave. Come on. Why aren’t you moving yet? You need – ,” He stopped when he felt hands on his shoulders.

Sanghyuk looked at Hakyeon, stopping his tirade. “Can you please take a breath first? And calmly explain what’s happening?”

Hakyeon looked at him incredulously. “You need to go,” What was the point of calming down when he was undoubtedly reeking ridiculously of another alpha, much, much more than he had been earlier in the evening, when said alpha was in his home, spreading his scent and infusing it into the very fibres of every single object in their home?

“Why?” Sanghyuk questioned.

“Oh my God, you don’t have time. He’s coming,” Hakyeon tried to explain with his hands flying in all directions, exasperated already. He was getting tired of the unnecessary interview.

“Your husband?” Sanghyuk’s expression darkened.

Hakyeon gave him a pleading look. “Yes, that’s why you need to go. I can’t save you if something goes wrong. Whiskers. Where’s Whiskers? I haven’t fed him. Oh God, I haven’t made dinner yet. He’ll kill me. Please move, I have so much to do. I need to clean the house as well,”

“No, I’m not going anywhere,” Sanghyuk stood his ground.

Hakyeon shot him another incredulous look. “What do you mean? Have you lost your mind?” He pushed past him and walked out the door, ignoring the sudden panic that was building up inside of him. He didn’t have the time to deal with it. He stepped into the living room and found Hongbin playing with Whiskers, Whiskers having settled on his back and showing his tummy for rubs from Hongbin.

“Hongbin, please leave. He’s coming,” Hakyeon hurried into the kitchen.

Hongbin sent him a confused look and then an accusatory glare at Sanghyuk before he asked, “Sanghyuk? Why is he up? He needs to be resting,”

Sanghyuk shook his head. “He was. I’m pretty sure he’s feeling less pain now but he suddenly said his husband was coming and he wants us to go. But I think I’ll stay,”

As realisation dawned on Hongbin, his resolve hardened. “I’m not leaving either,” Taekwoon could watch him spread his worthlessness all over Hakyeon and he wouldn’t give a fuck.

“Why are you still here? Didn’t you hear me?” Hakyeon stormed out of the kitchen, dishes in hand that he needed to set on the table, and just as he reached his destination, a fresh episode of numbing pain coursed through his body and the dishes he’d been holding crashed to the floor, shattering upon impact.

His body should have fallen, right onto the jarred edges of the broken porcelain. It should have pierced him in multiple places. He should have felt the sting. But, all he felt was a strong set of arms around him, a soothing presence surrounding, a reassuring hand on his forehead, and he blacked out.

 

~>▲<~

 

_When was the last time you took him out?_

_Or the last time you paid him attention? Told him he looked nice, or complimented his cooking,_

Taekwoon wasn’t a fan of how Wonshik’s words kept reverberating within his head. It hurt his mind to think of the underlying implication. Wonshik clearly meant he blamed him. Wonshik was blaming his ways, the correct ways, the ones his father taught him. They couldn’t be wrong. _He_ couldn’t be wrong. Could he?

He drove recklessly, letting his foot press hard on the accelerator. He drove way past the speed limit, he ended up crossing a handful of red lights, but there wasn’t a patrol car on his tail yet, so he couldn’t be bothered to slow down. His windows were left open and he let the cold winter air whip through his hair. He hoped it would cool him down. He still couldn’t wrap his head around the fact that Wonshik was telling him to treat Hakyeon better.

He braked the car suddenly.

He let his head hand down his shoulders and stared at the floor of his car.

Hakyeon.

If anybody was to be blamed, it was to be Hakyeon. He was the one who had done wrong. He was the one who had come home smelling like someone else. He was the one who had the audacity to stay out long after darkness fell upon them in the evening. He was the one acted nonchalantly about it. He was the one who could entice the entire city and not realise it.

Then why, why was it that Taekwoon was being blamed?

Taekwoon knew, at the back of his mind, that he was being unreasonable, that Hakyeon was as much human as he was, that Hakyeon was supposed to be allowed to have his own way of doing certain things, but he couldn’t help feeling betrayed that maybe, just maybe, Hakyeon was fed up of him. It frightened him to think that one day Hakyeon would leave him, and that Hakyeon would find someone who treated him the way he deserved to be treated. And it unnerved him.

Hakyeon was strong. Hakyeon was beautiful. Hakyeon was brave. Hakyeon was intelligent. Hakyeon had always been so much more than Taekwoon, so much more than Taekwoon could even hope to be. Hakyeon could do wonders with his life if he was given a chance, he was well aware. Hakyeon could turn his life upside down if he so pleased, Taekwoon knew. Yet, he couldn’t let it happen. Yet, Taekwoon could never tell him so. Yet, Taekwoon could never let him be an equal. Because the society didn’t work that way. Because Hakyeon was an omega. Because Hakyeon could never be superior to Taekwoon.

But, he wasn’t wrong, was he? His father taught him well, didn’t he?

His father would be proud. He’d always told him that an alpha was supposed to be authoritative, that an alpha was to be feared, that an alpha was to command respect in every wake of his life, that an alpha could never tremble with fear, that an alpha was always the epitome of strength, that his wall could never break. Cowardice was the beginning of a bottomless downfall, he’d been told.  

And Taekwoon tried. He tried so hard to maintain and follow all the rules his father had told him made a great alpha. He’d never wanted to be great, but the name Jung placed the burden on his shoulders and he couldn’t back down. He put on his best mask and carried the weight all by himself. He did not buckle. He was doing good. Wasn’t he?

_When was the last time you took him out?_

_Or the last time you paid him attention? Told him he looked nice, or complimented his cooking,_

He gripped the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. He wanted the voice inside his head to stop. He needed to clear his mind. He didn’t need Wonshik pointing guns and shooting them right where it hurt. He couldn’t bear to think about the kind of man he became, the sort he had always despised. The kind of man his father would have been proud of.

Bile rose up his throat. His eyes closed of their own accord as his head pulsed with a throbbing headache. The fire slowly spread down his entire body and he felt as if his soul was being flayed open. His throat parched just as quickly and he felt his stomach churn. It was a miracle he hadn’t started heaving, his stomach was empty and the gastric reflux would have left him in agony. Yet, he was burning through and through.

_“Woonie, every human life is equally precious. Status shouldn’t dictate how you treat another person. Promise me you’ll remember that. Promise me you’ll never become an animal. ”_

Taekwoon’s head pulsed harder than before at the slip of memory. He didn’t know where it came from. He didn’t know whose voice it had been. His hands shot up to clutch at his temple, digging the heels of his palms into the sides, his fingers pressing into his scalp, his eyes closed shut. A hiss of pain left his mouth as his head throbbed. He wondered if hitting his head against the steering wheel would help. He didn’t succeed.

He wished for Hakyeon to open up the bond. He slowly reached out. A momentary thought crossed his mind when he couldn’t help but wonder how bad of a condition Hakyeon must have been in if he was unable to keep himself standing straight without the darkness threatening to overtake every time he pulled at the closed bond. He was well aware of just how important the soul bonds were to an omega partner.

Taekwoon let a tendril of hope pass through the darkness and he focussed on the light, letting it move slowly towards the warmth he assumed was Hakyeon and tried to pry at the dead end. He tried not to gasp as a sliver of recognition managed to peak through Hakyeon’s side and he took deep breaths. It was calming, if just a bit.

There was something that bothered his very being when he felt Hakyeon’s response, he couldn’t pinpoint exactly what it was, and it took him a while to realise. Hakyeon was calm. Hakyeon was not in pain. That shouldn’t have been possible. He wasn’t home. There was no alpha around. Hakyeon was alone, wasn’t he? He certainly was, the last time Taekwoon checked.

His heart beat sped up. Had his suspicions been right all along? Was Hakyeon cheating on him? Was there someone who made Hakyeon happy? Someone who wasn’t Taekwoon?

The calm that had begun to seep in just a while ago stood frozen. The fire started to creep up his body, twisting its ugly and vile thorny tendrils all over Taekwoon, making him restart his engine, making him drive all the way back home, pushing him to the edge. All he could see was red. The cold was gone. All that was left was the rekindled fire, with a refurbished passion.

He hadn’t realised he’d driving close to their home all along, and he soon reached their building. Without bothering to wait for the tardy elevator, he took the stairs, two at a time and was panting heavily by the time he reached the landing to their floor. He strode across the carpeted hallway and punched in the passcode to their home angrily.

As he pulled the door open, a strong stench of alpha punched him in the face with a force he wasn’t expecting, almost making him stumble backwards. There was also an underlying stench of omega, one he recognised very well as that of Hongbin’s, Hakyeon’s friend. He growled.

“Hakyeon.” Taekwoon bellowed as the door closed shut behind him.

Before he could take a step forward and drag Hakyeon out of whatever corner of the house he was hidden in by the collar, he felt his legs stumble backwards and his back hit the closed front door, his head thrown to the side and an accompaniment of a throb by his nose. He winced when he felt warmth trickle down and settle at the curve of his upper lip.

“What the fuck,” he spat, his hand flying to stop the bleeding.

“That’s for all the shit you’ve done to my friend, you fucker,” Hongbin glared at Taekwoon, even as his knuckles pulsed with pain. He could deal with them later.

Sanghyuk stood behind Hongbin, shooting daggers at Taekwoon. If looks were enough to kill a person, Taekwoon would have surely been reduced to ashes by the intensity of Sanghyuk’s projected dislike towards the man. He hoped Hakyeon would stay inside. They’d only just managed to get him to rest when they’d heard the passcode being padded in, with the accompanying beep of it having been accepted.

“Oh, Hongbin,” Hakyeon trembled with dawning horror as he realised what had transpired in the mere seconds it had taken for him to get from the bedroom to the living room. Hongbin had punched Taekwoon. And Taekwoon looked murderous. “What have you done,” He whispered.

Hakyeon pushed forward and stood in between Hongbin and Taekwoon, opening his arms wide and making sure Hongbin stayed hidden behind him. He was used to the pain. He couldn’t let Hongbin feel any. “Please, don’t hurt him, Alpha. It won’t happen again. I’m sorry. It’s all my fault. I called him. I apologise. Don’t hurt him,” He dropped his head and let it hang between his shoulders.

Hongbin grabbed Hakyeon’s arms to make him move but Hakyeon wouldn’t budge.

Taekwoon growled once again. “Out,” he muttered to Hongbin and Sanghyuk.

They didn’t follow through, instead moving to stand on either side of Hakyeon, defying the alpha of the house, with no intention of leaving Hakyeon with no protection of any sort.

Taekwoon shot them a poisonous look. He accepted the challenge. “Alright.” He said. He stepped closer to Hakyeon and pulled his wrist down from where it was hanging at shoulder level. “You. Come with me. Unless you want to have this conversation with them present. Your choice.”

Hakyeon didn’t want to have the conversation. Period. He knew there was no getting out of it, though. He certainly preferred to have it without Hongbin and Sanghyuk present there. He turned to face them. “Please leave. I can’t do this with you here,”

Hongbin opened his mouth to protest, but Hakyeon cut him off with a wave of his hand. “You wouldn’t want to listen in either. I’m doing this for your sake. Don’t ever come back here. Not even if and when I call you out of sheer desperation. I can deal with it. I don’t need saving. I don’t need protection. There is no saving. Please get that into your heads. Now, leave,” He addressed the two of them together, yet he knew they understood what was being said to whom.

Sanghyuk felt his blood turn cold at Hakyeon’s words. There is no saving, he’d said. Apparently his resolve to not leave Hakyeon alone was only serving to get more cemented and set in stone, the more he met the man. It was surprising, considering the fact that no person had ever caught and held on to his attention as much as someone who was out of his league, and most definitely out of his reach as Hakyeon was.

Hongbin shared a look with him, a silent question as to the course of their action and Sanghyuk shrugged and nodded towards the door. He ignored the anger that radiated from Hongbin, but taking into account the situation they were in, it was best to let go. Pulling too hard might only end u hurting the person on the other end of the string. Or snap the string entirely.

Sanghyuk sent an intense look to Hakyeon telling him to stay strong, and without so much as a glance towards Taekwoon, he left. Hongbin followed, but not before pulling Hakyeon in for a tight hug and whispering into his ears, something that would remain between the two.

Hakyeon shut the door and turned to face his husband, resigning himself with each breath that he’d just written his own safety away, trading it for the safe keeping of his best and most precious friend, and the one person he’d never thought he’d ever have to meet again, someone whom he kept owing his life to far too many times. Fate and destiny had never failed to astonish him, after all.

 

~>▲<~

He’d always wanted to spend more time and away from their normal activities with Jaehwan, sure, but Wonshik had never in his wildest dreams expected he’d be doing that on a particular night when he’d be driving to knock some sense into his idiot of a best friend and to make sure he hadn’t done something worse. He’d also not expected he’s have to keep Jaehwan from committing a felony.

Wonshik carefully parked his car in the open parking lot and got out, only to find Jaehwan kicking at the tires of Taekwoon’s car. He momentarily wondered why Taekwoon hadn’t parked his car in its designated spot before walking over and pulling Jaehwan away. “What are you doing? What if someone sees you?” He frantically whispered.

Jaehwan scoffed. “Like I care. I know that’s Mr Jung’s car and I have a very beautiful image in my head for what it would look like when I’m done vandalising it,” His eyes twinkled.

Wonshik gulped. He certainly didn’t want to get on the bad side of Jaehwan. “We can do that leisurely when there’s no one around,” He muttered, trying to pull Jaehwan away from dragging his car keys along the metallic surface of the car.

Jaehwan’s eyes wandered to take in the place. “There’s no one around. Stop being a spoil sport, Wonshik. Come and help me. Or just shut the hell up.” The place was as empty as it might ever be available another time.

Wonshik sighed. Maybe he should have come alone. "We came here for a reason, Jaehwan,"

Jaehwan stopped his ministrations immediately. "Let's go," He grabbed Wonshik's wrist and pulled him in towards the entry of the apartment building. He didn't know where to go but he figured Wonshik would. They were supposed to be friends, after all, weren’t they?

The stood in front of the elevator and Wonshik pulled his hand free. He glanced at Jaehwan and opened his mouth once, promptly closed and repeated another two times, getting on Jaehwan's nerves.

"Will you stop acting like a fish and spit it out?" Jaehwan asked, exasperated with his idiocy. He had his hands on his hips.

"I don’t know where Taek lives," Wonshik admitted, averting his eyes and looking down at his feet, admiring his shoes.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" His jaw dropped to the floor. Jaehwan threw his hands up in the air.

"Hey, Taek always meets me outside after he got married. It’s been five years and I haven't once been to his home," Wonshik knew just how bad it sounded the second it left his mouth.

Jaehwan's gaze darkened. He threw a series of curses at nobody in particular and stalked towards the reception desk. He slammed his hands on the desk and startled the receptionist, a Mr Lim, as his pin up badge claimed. "I need to know what floor Mr Jung and his husband live on. Oh, and the apartment number, please," He tapped his fingers on the desk, fixing the man with his most intimidating look.

The receptionist recovered from the sudden intrusion. "Ah, we cannot give out any information without the expert permission of the house occupiers, sir,"

Jaehwan shot him an incredulous look. "You think I fucking care about your policies? Tell me right now or I'll make sure you get fired the second I buy this building myself," He threatened. He didn't like using money and power, but desperate situations called for even more desperate measures.

Wonshik watched with his mouth hanging open as the receptionist immediately placed a call to his higher ups. "I'm sorry sir, but there's a man who wants the information of one of the occupants and he doesn't understand what I mean when I say it’s not possible to give out such information."

He walked over and shooting the receptionist an awkward smile, he pulled Jaehwan aside. "You'll get us kicked out. What the hell are you doing?”

Jaehwan ignored Wonshik and took to shouting obscenities at the receptionist and the building owner and talking about how he was going to put them out of business and what not, all the while Wonshik was trying to clamp his mouth shut and dragging him away and shooting apologetic glances at the receptionist and the security guards of the building.

“Jaehwan?”

Jaehwan froze in his fight against Wonshik’s hold and frowned in recognition. “Sanghyuk? Hongbin? What are you guys doing here? Sanghyuk, why didn’t you pick up your phone? I needed to talk to you about Hakyeon,”

Wonshik stared in confusion between Jaehwan and the new comers, his gaze lingering on the slightly shorter one, the omega, and he clapped his hands as it struck him suddenly, why the man seemed so familiar. “Oh, it’s you! Bar guy!”

“Fuck,” Hongbin muttered.


	7. Words cut deeper than a sword

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hakyeon makes some decisions and Taekwoon isn't a fan of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! 
> 
> I'm so sorry lmao. The last chapter I posted a month ago, I know I was supposed to get this out some time ago, but I just couldn't seem to be satisfied with the way it was going and I scrapped it off three times before ending up with this. I'm not going to tell you I'm happy with this, but gahd I didn't it to be so tough ya know? 
> 
> I'll try to get the next chapter up soon as well. Keyword being try xD Let's see how well it goes?
> 
> Oh, and I'm sorry it's kinda short
> 
> (There's like this other chasang and two chabins I'm working on shhh but that's a secret, yeah? "Let's hope Mrina doesn't add anymore wips to her already overflowing docs" new year resolution has already failed and it's barely even february what to do *sigh*)
> 
> Gah, no trigger warnings for this chapter, I guess. Oh, unless you're not okay with a little bit of some old geezer hitting on Hongbin, but he handles it pretty well, so 
> 
> Oki! Leave me comments and kudos!

The realisation seeped in slowly with every breath he took, with every tendril of the heavily scented and saturated air that tingled at his senses. That the alpha Hakyeon had come home reeking of earlier was the same one that Hakyeon had closed the door on. Huh. He wasn’t sure what to feel. He wasn’t sure how to react. And he most definitely didn’t know what to think.

It wasn’t anger, he realised. He felt a strange sense of calm overtake him. Acceptance, he guessed, or maybe it was resignation to the fact that Hakyeon was slipping away. The more Taekwoon tried to hold on, the faster he seemed to slip right through the spaces between his fingers, only wisps of his essence left behind for Taekwoon to feel. It left a deep pang in his chest, horribly reminiscent of the way he couldn’t hold on to those that mattered the most.

He turned on his heel and spun towards their bedroom. He had nothing to say, really. The entire situation was lost on him. It screamed at him just how useless he was, just how much of a monster he had become, trying to chase the wrong kind of perfection, trying his best to become the kind of person someone would be proud of. But, he had failed to factor in the one person who should have truly mattered, the one person whom he should have counted on.

“Taekwoon?” Hakyeon called out, concern etched through every syllable as he watched him stumble across the long corridor and almost collide with the heavy oak door of their bedroom. He’d never seen him like that. It was worrying.

Taekwoon stopped just before he closed the door to look at Hakyeon in silent question.

Hakyeon hesitantly walked over to him, reaching out to hold the door open to pull himself in and watched with his mouth hanging open as Taekwoon simply shed his clothes and crawled onto his side of the bed, completely ignoring Hakyeon. Whether deliberate or not, he couldn’t tell. “Is something wrong?” He asked his voice soft. He was afraid to break the quiet of the night, of the calm that suddenly blanketed them, regardless of the fact that it unnerved him.

Taekwoon looked up from his spot on the bed, his eyes as blank as the expression on his face and shook his head. “Not really,” He replied. What was he to say? Tell Hakyeon he was regretting every single second of his own existence? He sunk into the sheets and pillows instead, breathing in deeply.

And then he froze.

Taekwoon shot up in bed, his spine straight and pulled on the sheets around him, fisting the satiny material in his hands and sniffing at it. His eyes shot up to meet Hakyeon’s nervous ones. “What is this?”

Hakyeon tugged at the hem of his shirt and fiddled with it, averting his eyes.

Taekwoon got off and pulled Hakyeon onto the bed, pushing him onto his back, not letting him go.

Hakyeon tugged his hand with an effort to pull it towards himself. “Please, let me go,”

“You.” Taekwoon climbed back on to the bed and perched calmly next to Hakyeon. “Have you been fucking that man behind my back? Is that what you’ve been doing all this time when I toil at the office to be able to provide meals and shelter for us? Is he that good? Does he pleasure you? He must be younger. I didn’t know you were into that.”

Hakyeon shouldn’t have been surprised, really. He should have been expecting it, the crass language, the dirty words. It didn’t make it hurt any less. A part of it was his fault too, he knew. Yet, they stung. They made him feel gross, somehow unclean, even when he was anything but. “Is that how lowly you think of me?”

“I honestly don’t know what to think, Hakyeon,” Taekwoon commented as he looked around their bedroom. “Did you fuck him here as well? On our bed?” He could smell the man’s lingering scent even on the bed sheets. He couldn’t sit on the bed any longer. It felt tainted. As tainted as their relationship. He stood. “Disgusting.” He scowled. “Fucking omega, needy and horny all the time. Is one person not enough to satisfy you?”

Hakyeon felt his blood boil at that. How _dare_ he.

“I did no such thing, Taekwoon. Can you stop blaming everything on me? Don’t even begin to talk about my needs when you’ve never once thought of me as anything but a fuck toy,” Hakyeon wasn’t sure where he got the confidence from to say what was running through his mind. He was getting tired of it all. 

“Why is it that you cannot once look at me as a human being instead of being just an omega? Is it that difficult? To look beyond and find that I’m hurting every single minute of my life? Do you truly not understand just how ugly I feel, how worthless I think of myself, how unworthy of simple pleasures I deem myself to be? Don’t you even know why I tried to end my life that night? I’m sick of it, Taekwoon. I’m sick of you, of everyone being so against me. Of me having to act like everything is fine when it isn’t at all.”

Taekwoon didn’t want to listen to another word from Hakyeon. He couldn’t. He sunk to his knees on the carpeted floor as his hands shot up to cover his ears. His fingers pressed into the sides of his skull, the tips digging in. It hurt. It felt as if someone was hammering his head from within, trying to break him apart, trying to unravel the seams that held him together. He hissed under his breath. He shook his head.

Hakyeon was lying. He had to be. He wasn’t like that. He wasn’t that much of a terrible person. He wasn’t insensitive, was he? The trouble was, deep down, he knew exactly what he was doing to Hakyeon, but he couldn’t seem to stop his instinct from acting up. He couldn’t help the way he burned with possessiveness, the need to own Hakyeon. It was wrong on so many levels, he was well aware. But it having been laid bare in front of him, he didn’t know how to react.

He shook his head, a vain attempt at getting those intrusive thoughts out. “No,” He whispered fiercely. “No, no, no,” He chanted under his breath. “You’re wrong,”

Hakyeon knelt in front of him and pulled at his wrists. “I’m not. You know that, don’t you? You’re very much aware of what I’m going through. Why do you disregard it, then? Or do you truly not think I deserve some sort of respect?”

Taekwoon looked up to meet Hakyeon’s eyes. “It’s not like you’ve ever cared much about me, either. “ Being passive aggressive never really helped anyone, did it?

Hakyeon froze. His eyes turned narrow and he felt venomous words rise up his throat, all the way to the tip of his tongue, ready to spew out, but he swallowed it back. He stood, backing slowly away from Taekwoon. He laughed, humourless, instead. “I can’t believe you, dear husband. I simply cannot.”

He turned on his heel and left the room. He couldn’t stay there and listen to Taekwoon place all the blame on him. Hell, he didn’t even want to stay in the house anymore. He sank into the couch in the living room just as Whiskers wandered out from wherever he had been and climbed into Hakyeon’s lap. He smiled at him lightly, rubbing behind his ears and Whiskers mewled contentedly.  

The frown hadn’t left his face. Words hurt much more monumentally than actions did. He’d never so much as raised his voice at Taekwoon, let alone refrain from doing every single thing that was expected of him, as an omega, as a good husband. Despite it all, it hurt to think Taekwoon didn’t so much as acknowledge the fact that Hakyeon put in all his effort to try and make the relationship between them. He was beyond baffled. And angry. He was mainly angry.

“Hakyeon, we haven’t finished the conversation yet,” Taekwoon called from inside.

“Yes, we are. I have nothing more to say to that,”

Taekwoon came out to the living room. “So my assumptions are right, then.” It was more of a statement than a question, Taekwoon having already come to a conclusion.

Hakyeon stared at him, his jaw hung open. Irritation climbed up, its branches winding all the way. “You know what? I don’t give a fuck anymore, Taekwoon. You can question my loyalty, you can question my sincerity, hell, you can even kindly go fuck yourself. I don’t care,”

“Language, Hakyeon. That isn’t how you speak. It is very unlike you,” Taekwoon admonished him, a frown having settled down on his face. He folded his arms across his chest and tapped a foot on the floor.

“Watch me do exactly the opposite of what’s expected of me now,” Hakyeon jumped to the floor, almost dislodging Whiskers from his lap. He caught him at the last second, cradling the cat against his chest and grabbing his phone, he shot an annoyed look at Taekwoon and simply walked out of the house, letting it shut close behind him.

Taekwoon screamed at the shut door. “Come back in here right this instant, Hakyeon,” How dare he simply leave? He couldn’t. Hakyeon wasn’t supposed to dislodge everything the way he did. He walked over to the door and pulled it open, only to find it empty. “Hakyeon!” His voice echoed in the empty hallway.

He ran to the elevators. Both of them stood on different floors, still. He checked the stairway, no Hakyeon. He pulled his phone out to call him, it went unanswered. Taekwoon was lost, once again. He didn’t even have a name for the barrage of emotions that were overtaking him. He was angry, he was scared, he was hurt, he was emotionally fragile, and he had nobody to turn to.

He had managed to drive away the one person he had thought he would always be able to count on.

Great job, Jung Taekwoon.

 

 

~>▲<~

 

_Hongbin was dressed to the nines as he stepped out of his parents’ home. He found it unbearable to spend even an extra second there. And he wanted to say a big fuck you to everyone who told him there was something wrong with him for having gotten his engagement broken. It wasn’t his fault._

_He had decided he’d go to the best fucking club in the city and have as much fun as he could. He wasn’t going to wallow. Especially not when he felt like celebrating not having been sold off to another family by his own. He made a mental note to send Sanghyuk some flowers for his rejection._

_His mood on a high, he set out in his car. Well, it wasn’t his per se. Omegas weren’t allowed to drive because apparently, the hormonal conditions and emotional questionability of omegas made them bad drivers and would only be a threat to the general public. Well, fuck the rules, because Hongbin wasn’t having any of it and he stole the keys off the table when he’d left home. If his parents had an issue, well, that wasn’t his problem. Not just then, at least._

_He climbed out of his car and handed the keys over to the valet driver, who gave him an odd look before accepting them. He walked with his head held high and brandishing his ID, he showed it to an equally dumbstruck bouncer and walked past him into the club._

_Hongbin was awed, his mouth hanging open. He’d never been to a club before, and he’d always been intrigued by the idea of people grinding against each other looking for sexual releases and drinking for the sake of euphoria. He’d always pitied those who needed alcohol to feel happiness, but he couldn’t deny that he was even remotely happy with being tied down as an omega and not being allowed to do as he pleased._

_He ambled over to the service desk, the bar, he realised they called it, and sat on one of the high stools placed around it. There was a menu card placed just a bit away, and he reached over to pick it up. His eyes slid over the laminated sheet. His jaw dropped open when he realised alcohol meant so much more than just wine._

_He’d never had the luxury to choose the kind of drink he’d like to consume, dietary restrictions and societal expectations and what not. The mere choice of not just alcohols, but even cocktails and mocktails knocked him over. He held his lower lip in between his teeth as he considered his various options._

_“You seem to be having trouble there, beautiful. Want me to make it easier?” A voice breathed down the side of his neck, uncomfortably close to his ear and he shifted to the side, ignoring the man._

_“Disgusting creep,” Hongbin muttered under his breath as a frown overtook his features. He just wanted to enjoy his night out, not be bothered by horny bastards._

_“Oh, there’s no need to be so rude, sweetie. I’m just trying to help. You’re a poor thing. An omega like you obviously needs a big, bad alpha to help you out, don’t you?” The man drawled._

_Hongbin suppressed the urge to throw a punch at the man’s face. Instead, ignoring him entirely, he called over the bartender and said, “Hi, I’d like a shot of vodka, please. On the rocks,”_

_The bartender seemed like he wanted to argue, but Hongbin guessed his tight-lipped smile was indication enough that he was in no mood to argue._

_“Oh, darling. You shouldn’t be so careless,” The man sidled back up to Hongbin and pressed close. “See, I’m a good one. But there’re many alphas out there who would do anything to get their hands on such a pretty thing like you. And you’re so young too. What if something bad happens? Let us make a deal. I’ll take care of you tonight, make sure no one lifts a finger at you, and in return…” The man trailed off, giving Hongbin a toothy grin._

_Hongbin clenched his fists tightly, beyond disgusted. “Excuse me, sir. I’m not sure why you didn’t get the memo, but I’m not interested,” He smiled and got up from his stool._

_The man didn’t seem to understand or didn’t want to, Hongbin couldn’t tell. He caught Hongbin’s shoulder as he turned to leave, and leaned in. “Make a scene and it will be bad for you,” He whispered._

_Hongbin absolutely hated feeling vulnerable, like he wasn’t capable of taking care of himself. He wondered momentarily what the hell the bouncers were up to as he took a deep breath, and catching the man’s wrist, twisted himself out of the hold and held the man’s hand in the pronated position as hard as he could. “Fuck you,” He spat at him and turned to leave._

_“You bitch,” The man flung himself at Hongbin._

_Hongbin felt like he was suddenly stuck in a slow-motion film, as he predicted exactly how he would fall into the stools next to his, possibly knocking some of the cutlery from the bar, and hopefully not break his neck in the process. But, surprisingly, it didn’t happen the way he expected._

_Instead, he stood, both feet firmly planted on the ground._

_He quickly turned back around to survey the scene and found another man, another alpha, pinning the disgusting old one while he spewed all kind of obscenities at Hongbin. Instantly, Hongbin’s mood soured. Great, another fucking alpha._

_He signalled to the bartender who had been watching the whole ordeal to cancel his order and simply sidestepped the two alphas he wanted absolutely zilch to do with and headed out the door. He glared at the bouncers and at everyone else in the club, simply because he found it extremely inhumane just how much the people didn’t care about another person being assaulted._

_So much for wanting a nice, quiet night out for himself. He whistled low as he waited for the valet attendant to bring his car out of parking, stood on the footpath to the side._

_“Hey!” Somebody called out._

_Hongbin looked around, but he saw nobody around. He shrugged to himself and continued to whistle low._

_“Hey,” The voice sounded closer._

_Hongbin recognised the figure the second his eyes fell upon him. It was the other alpha, the one who had stepped in. He scowled. “What do you want?”_

_The alpha stepped up to him, waving something that resembled Hongbin’s jacket. The one he had been wearing a while ago. The same one he had forgotten to pick up in his urgency to get the hell out. “Your jacket,” He offered, smiling._

_Hongbin looked the alpha up and down, opting to stare at his face long enough to make him uncomfortable, before silently grabbing his jacket from the other’s hand and pulling it on. “If you’re expecting a thank you for saving me,” He emphasized on the last two words, “then you may as well leave,”_

_The alpha continued to smile at him. “Oh, no. I just wanted to return this to you. In case you got cold,”_

_Hongbin scowled harder. “I know how to take care of myself, thank you very much,”_

_The alpha put his hands up in the air, a gesture of surrender. “Hey, I mean no harm. I seriously only wanted to return that to you,”_

_“I’m sensing an and,”_

_“And to ask if you were alright,”_

_Hongbin scoffed. Of fucking course. What else could he expect from an alpha? They see an opening, think an omega is vulnerable, and waste absolutely no time in slithering in. “I’m not a damsel in distress if that’s what you’re implying._

_“I think you got me wrong,” The alpha frowned slightly, his smile slipping._

_“Did I really? You saw an omega who was being assaulted by an alpha, waited for an opening, and conveniently became the hero by unnecessarily saving me, and now you expect me to repay you. Isn’t that it?”_

_The alpha opened his mouth to argue, but Hongbin held his hand out, signalling him to stop. “It’s fine, you don’t need to explain. I need to go. My car is here. I hope you can find another victim you can play the hero for. Good night,”_

And he’d never expected to see that alpha again, or to learn his name was Wonshik. And he had most definitely not imagined even in his wildest dreams that he would be sat across from him in some stupid car outside Hakyeon’s apartment building because Jaehwan had managed to get them kicked out.

He’d been silently staring at Wonshik the whole time, completely ignoring the frantic conversation between the other two. He only caught phrases here and there and he figured Sanghyuk and Jaehwan were arguing about what to do. Or not. He couldn’t tell, really, even if his life depended on it.

Wonshik had recognised him off the bat. He had smiled, though, despite the fact that Hongbin had been extremely rude to him, and he couldn’t help but wonder if he really was as nice a guy as he seemed. He could only wonder, though. He wasn’t big on asking intruding questions.

A sudden hush fell over the interior of the car and broke Hongbin out of his thoughts.

“What happened?” He questioned.

Jaehwan flicked a finger on his forehead. “Your phone is ringing, dumbo,”

He flushed. His phone certainly was vibrating. He scrambled to get it out of his jacket and stared at the name that flashed across the screen, lighting it up. His jaw fell open. He slowly turned to look at the others.

“It’s Hakyeon,” He gulped.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In case it wasn't clear, the italics is Hongbin remembering the past and the normal font is where it blends into the present ^^


	8. Splintered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which Hongbin and Sanghyuk get closer, a tentative friendship between the two begins to bloom.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh my God, I am so, so, so sorry for being this late. I used to update at least once a month, two if feasible but the last I updated was some time in February and I really have no excuses.  
> I have not abandoned this fic. I am much too in love with some of the characters to simply let it go. But, time is something I am always short on. I had a really, really important exam some time ago and I needed to put everything on hold to get through that one. (The results will be out shortly. Pls pray for me)
> 
> Also, since it has been so long, I'm not entirely satisfied with the chapter, but this was the best I could do. Do let me know if the flow of it seems proper enough, please. I just don't want it all to seem unrelated. (This is the trouble with shifting between tenses with different pieces of writing lmao, you get confused in the end. I should stick with one lol)
> 
> Anyway, as always, there's a slight TW regarding some past abuse, but it's all pretty vague. Oh and maybe the oncoming of a small panic attack. Do tread carefully.
> 
> Also, I do not have beta readers, so any and all mistakes are mine. And I wouldn't mind correcting them as long as you are polite in letting me know!
> 
> I hope y'all enjoy!

Hakyeon was beyond pumped as he stood with his back to the wall, a floor above his own in the stairway, Whiskers cradled in his arms. His heart was thudding fast, a gallop rhythm almost. Sweat was quickly beading at the skin of his forehead and he could only hope Whiskers would stay silent as Taekwoon’s voice rang shrill in the empty stairwell save him. He had managed to mask the bond, thankfully.

He’d somehow made a split second decision that he didn’t want to stay where he was under constant scrutiny when Taekwoon had almost explicitly enunciated he had not an ounce of trust in him. Maybe not in so many words, but it certainly had been heavily insinuated. It made him feel disgusting and absolutely underappreciated. It hurt, somehow, even when he’d long since given up hope.

He hated how vulnerable he felt, knowing he’d probably not just angered his mate, but also potentially ruined their relationship by stepping out of the house. But he couldn’t stay. He felt far too suffocated. That wasn’t good, was it? Hadn’t Hongbin always told him he was in a too toxic environment?

Hakyeon wasn’t entirely sure what to do next. He couldn’t go back in there. That was absolutely not an option. He couldn’t go back to his father, neither could he call up one of his brothers asking for a place to stay. They would undoubtedly make sure he was back in his and Taekwoon’s home before he even uttered a word of protest in his defence. And they would be furious about his decision to defy his husband. An omega was supposed to be a homemaker, after all, unable to make decisions of their own. Fragile and needing to be taken care of.

He didn’t think the media would look kindly upon his departure either, especially if the mainstream media caught a whiff of the fact that Cha Hakyeon, the highly coveted omega husband of Jung Taekwoon, one whose etiquette was considered the best in the whole country, a truly perfect omega in the eyes of every single alpha, had willingly left home, having fought with his husband, oh what a pretty sight that would be to see in the headlines on the daily news. 

Whiskers shifted in his arms and brought his attention back to reality, snapping him out of the way his breath was beginning to hitch, tell-tale signs of an upcoming panic attack so close he could taste it. Hakyeon shook himself out of it. There was no use imagining unnecessary scenarios, not when he was still sitting on the landing of the stairwell, wondering where the hell to go.

There was one other option. He just wasn’t sure he should use it. He had, after all, not too long ago, all but kicked Hongbin from his apartment. He couldn’t possibly ask for a favour when he’d willingly put himself in danger and asked for his friend to not come looking for him ever again. And he had explicitly told Hongbin to not pick up his call ever again. Even if he called in the direst of situations. He greatly valued Hongbin’s safety, after all.

He was telling himself not to do it, that it was only going to put Hongbin in a perilous position, that he shouldn’t risk Hongbin’s safety, yet he couldn’t stop himself. He clutched the phone hard in his hand as he pressed it close to his ear, his heart beating to each ring that went through. He shouldn’t have been doing that.

“Hyung?” Hongbin asked with a meek voice.

Hakyeon gulped in the form of an answer. He shouldn’t have made the call, damn it.

“Hyung, oh my god, are you okay? Did that bastard hurt you? Are you in pain? Do you need me to come back up? I’ve got more back up, don’t worry, I’m pretty sure I can handle myself against Taekwoon. Hyung, please say something. I’m worried,”

Hakyeon wanted to. But his voice just wouldn’t come out. He hadn’t even known tears had begun to stream down his cheeks. He hated feeling the way, like he had to absolutely depend on someone, anyone, to even take care of the most basic needs of providing himself with shelter or food. Just why was it that omegas weren’t allowed to fend for themselves? He felt so incapable, so insignificant.

“Hyung, oh God, hyung are you crying?” Hongbin sounded winded like he was out of breath, as if he was running.

“Binnie. I’m okay, please don’t run,”

Hongbin chuckled nervously. “You don’t sound okay, hyung,”

“No, I’m okay. I just..,” He trailed off. What was he supposed to ask for? He couldn’t possibly ask to stay in Hongbin’s home, no. “Forget I called, Hongbin. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have called. Goodb – ,

“No wait, hyung. What the hell are you talking about?” Hongbin shouted into the receiver. “Don’t hang up,”

Hakyeon sighed, wiping away his tears. “What’s the point of talking when there’s nothing you or I can do about this situation,”

“Can you please stop talking in riddles and just tell me why you called in the first place,” Hongbin was starting to get irritated.

Hakyeon bit his lip. “I may have run away from home,”

The silence from the other end made Hakyeon all the more nervous. Had Hongbin hung up? Had he already decided he couldn’t help? Was he regretting picking up Hakyeon’s phone call? Was he going to abandon him as well?

“You did what, exactly?” Hongbin’s voice was shrill, bordering on hysterical.

“I told Taekwoon to fuck off,” Hakyeon whispered into the phone. He had begun to shake slightly, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet. Maybe the movement would help keep his mind in place, because what in the actual hell was he even up to? Surely, he must have lost his freaking mind.

“Hakyeon, that’s brilliant!” Hongbin laughed. “Wait, where exactly are you, then? You can’t go to your father’s place. Neither will you be willing to go back into your home, I’m guessing. You didn’t come out of the apartment building either. Oh my God, where are you?”

“I’m hiding in the stairwell on the floor above ours,” Hakyeon whispered. “I don’t know what to do,” The feeling was back, the thing that was sitting at the back of his throat clamping down on his windpipe, making it difficult to breathe. “Oh God, I don’t know what to do, Binnie. What do I do? What should I do?”

“I need you to calm down. We’ll figure this out. Take deep breaths first. You need to think straight. Do you think you’ll be able to make it down to the ground floor? I’ll be waiting at the entrance. I don’t think your doorman will let me in,”

Hakyeon breathed in deep, taking a shuddering breath. “I can,” He certainly sounded far more confident than he felt, at least.

His descent to the ground floor was almost in a blur, he wasn’t sure how he’d made it through. His eyes had been blurring badly, his throat constricting every time his thoughts flew back to Taekwoon and the haunting voice that had called his name out soon after he’d left. He wasn’t sure if he was doing the right thing, but he knew one thing, and that was that he was following what his heart was telling him and not acting out of responsibility and expectations.

Whiskers was calm. He loved the cat to pieces, truly. He was always amazed by how intuitive the animal was, supporting Hakyeon throughout the day. Hakyeon liked to think of Whiskers as his emotional support, his one true ray of light in an otherwise bleak world. The cat only stayed perched comfortably in his arms, licking at the little bit of skin that was exposed at his wrist.

When he reached the entrance, it belatedly hit him that he left home in his pyjamas, and with absolutely no sort of protection against the harsh winter cold. He shivered, and the man standing at the reception gave him a strange look that he decidedly ignored in favour of steeling himself to face the actual cold once he got out of the building.

He didn’t have to, something warm was suddenly flung on him, making Whiskers yelp.

It was Hongbin.

Hongbin’s hands had managed to secure Hakyeon and Whiskers in a tight embrace, his head settling in the nook of Hakyeon’s neck.

“Oh my God, are you okay?” Hongbin breathed, pulling back just a bit.

“I’m okay, Hongbin, believe me. I’m not hurt. I just, I want to get out of here, if possible. Taekwoon, I can feel him and he’s hurting, and it’s hurting me as well, to be this close yet to blatantly ignore the instincts. The stupid mark is burning. I just, I can’t see his face right now. I don’t want to. Please don’t make me. I can’t do this. Oh God, Hongbin I should have stayed back, isn’t it? I shouldn’t have sworn at him. What if the media finds out? What will I tell my father, my brothers?”

“You need to stop thinking, hyung,”

“No, you don’t understand, Hongbin. This will be a bigger scandal than _The last of Cha bloodline: An Omega?_ That was a bad enough time, Hongbin. I don’t want to wake up to _Perfect little omega, not so much anymore_. That sounds worse. I’m going back in,”

_If you can’t be an alpha, don’t tarnish our name, at least. Behave like you’re meant to. We do not need any other disgraceful event shrouding our family._

Hakyeon absolutely did not want a repeat of what had happened when he’d presented as an omega in a family full of alpha males and females. He had been enough of a disgrace to them. He couldn’t live through another few years of unwarranted looks of disappointment. He’d rather douse himself with kerosene.

“No, you aren’t,” Hongbin clamped Hakyeon’s shoulders with his hands.

Hakyeon looked up to find Hongbin’s face set in determination. But he wasn’t angry anymore, he had calmed down significantly from the time he’d impulsively left the house. He must have temporarily gone bonkers. Nobody in their right mind would have done what he’d done.

And then it hit him. “Oh my God, you’re right. I can’t go back. Taekwoon isn’t going to take me back in, is he? Shit, Hongbin what have I done? I’ve ruined it all,”

A look of abject confusion flittered across Hongbin’s face. “What? What are you saying?”

“Hongbin, I just rejected my alpha. I was never supposed to do that. What if I’ve wounded his pride enough for him to break the bond? Breaking the bond, it isn’t just going to leave a physical scar, Hongbin,” Hakyeon sank to his knees. “This is it. I’ve gone and done it now,”

Hongbin stood speechless for a few seconds before he shook himself out of it. “Listen, I may not be the biggest fan of Taekwoon’s, and Lord knows how many times I’ve made it clear, but even I don’t think he’d be crazy enough to attempt to break the bond,”

Hakyeon met Hongbin’s eyes, his own swirling with something Hongbin couldn’t bring himself to put a name to, but it was enough to send shivers down his spine. “That is because you don’t know him as I do.”

“You’re shivering,” Hongbin noted silently. He didn’t want to delve further into that topic yet. He wanted Hakyeon safe and comfortable first.

Hakyeon almost laughed. “It’s winter, in case you hadn’t noticed,”

Hongbin threw him an unimpressed look. “Wait, I’m sure there’s something in my car. I’ll ask Sanghyuk to bring it,”

Hakyeon perked up at the name. Sanghyuk, was that his full name? It sounded oddly familiar, he simply couldn’t pinpoint why exactly. “Hongbin, I was wondering, how do you know Mr Hyuk?” He hadn’t been aware Hongbin had other friends. And he also belatedly realised he should probably stop referring to the man as if he knew him. Hongbin was bound to get suspicious, and that was a conversation he was even less interested in having than thinking of how he single-handedly ruined his life.

“Hmm?” Hongbin didn’t bother looking up from where he was texting furiously into his phone. “Ah, he was my fiancé,”

“What?” His voice must have gone an octave higher.

Hongbin must have realised what he let slip, because he suddenly looked up from the phone screen, his thumbs stopping mid-action. “Ah. Right. You didn’t know my fiancé’s name. Yeah, he’s the one who broke it off. And yes, before you say it, I know how it sounds, to say I’m friends with my ex-fiancé, but trust me, he’s a good person, alpha or not.”

He turned back to type into his phone when a frown made its way onto his forehead and he turned to face Hakyeon properly, pocketing his mobile phone mid-text. “Although, hyung, neither of you mentioned how you seemed to know each other. You’re not telling me something,”

Hakyeon laughed nervously. “Ah. Hongbin, can you tell him to hurry up? I’m freezing,” He shivered voluntarily for impact and sent him a tiny smile.

Hongbin narrowed his eyes further, but he did nod a yes. He will wait for Hakyeon to talk about it. He wasn’t going to push him. “Don’t think I’m letting go of this. I’ll get it out of him if you don’t answer,”

“Sometimes, ignorance truly is bliss, Hongbin,”

“And I’ve told you time and time again to stop talking so cryptically,” Hongbin scowled.

 

 

~>▲<~

 

 

It hadn’t struck him yet, as he stood in the empty living room that Hakyeon had just upped and left, as if it was the simplest thing to do. The house still had Hakyeon’s lingering scent clinging onto every surface that he strived to keep in the best condition, to make it a home and not just a living space. Hell, even the coat hanger was not empty. Hakyeon had left without grabbing anything but what was on his person and Whiskers.

Taekwoon felt it then, a sudden deep pang in his chest, a wave of sadness overtaking him as he sank onto the couch. The very couch Hakyeon had last sat on, before he’d left. Just left. Hakyeon had left. He was gone. He’d closed off the bond. There was no reaching out to him.  Where was Hakyeon? Where could he have disappeared to? Why couldn’t he pick up on Taekwoon’s distress signals? Why was Hakyeon playing games with him? Did he truly not care? Did it mean nothing to Hakyeon, their sacred relationship, the bond?

His head held in his hands as he tried to ward off the ache that was beginning to settle somewhere deep in his bones, deeper inside his skull. An incessant buzzing filled his ears moving out from the inside of his brain, overtaking all his senses. It sounded like broken words as if they were being chipped off from sentences somebody had once uttered around him.

_“You fool”, “Weak”, “Disappointment”, “What sort of an alpha”_

He shook his head once, twice, but it did nothing to dissipate the feeling of worthlessness that was beginning to be all-consuming. He knew not if those words from the fragments of memories were directed towards him, but they left him feeling ugly. The silence shrouding the house was almost deafening and that simply amplified everything else. He hated it.

Taekwoon couldn’t help wondering when the hell it all began to go awry. He clearly remembered a time in their childhood when they were close, friends of a kind that onlookers would have been jealous of. Was it truly when Hakyeon had presented? Or did it start earlier? He couldn’t say.

A wry smile crept onto his face when he thought back to the times when they would spend hours reading to each other from books clearly meant for business, quizzing each other on the latest trends, keeping each other on their toes with wit and intelligence. It was during one of those times that Taekwoon had once realised, just how much he appreciated Hakyeon, just how much he had begun to like him. He had been ten at the time when he’d learnt that it was something called love.

_“Why are you sulking, Taekwoon? It is unbecoming of somebody so old to sit and pout the way you are doing currently,” His mother’s voice found him with his legs swinging off the ledge of the wall of his balcony, his gaze trained on a random tree in the backyard, a frown gracing his features._

_“I hate Hakyeon,” He didn’t bother looking towards his mother when she placed her hands on his shoulders._

_“What has he done?” She tried to hide the hint of amusement in her voice._

_“He’s gone out with that Kim kid,” He really couldn’t be bothered to keep his bitterness away. How could Hakyeon do that? He was_ his _best friend. He didn’t even ask him to tag along._

_“That isn’t wrong, is it? He can make more friends, of course,”_

_Taekwoon shrugged his mother’s hands off of him. “Why are you siding with him? I thought you were_ my _mother,”_

_His mother sighed. “Darling,” She put her arms around him, hugging him from behind. “I am your mother, yes, but that doesn’t mean I will stand by you when you are being an idiot. He isn’t a toy, is he? He’s your closest friend, yes, but that doesn’t mean he cannot make other friends. Besides, don’t you think you spend too much time together as it is?”_

_“That’s only because he shares his banana milk with me,”_

_“Whatever you say, darling,”_

It had been a long time since he had remembered his mother. It was a painful memory, her loss. And he always tried his best to keep from remembering her too often, scared he might break down. Lost in thoughts, he hadn’t realised he’d left his front door open until he felt somebody stepping in. He leapt from the couch, his heart thundering. Hakyeon? “Hakyeon?”

“Mr Jung, if only this bastard wasn’t holding me back, you wouldn’t be standing over there in one piece,”

Taekwoon looked up to see the same Omega from when he’d met Wonshik struggling in Wonshik’s arms, his hands fisted and his face red. To say he was surprised would be an understatement of the century. His heart fell to his stomach when he realised Hakyeon hadn’t come back to him. He simply ignored the two and walked back to sink into the couch.

“Why the fuck are you not even saying anything? How can you sit there so calmly after having broken another person?” Jaehwan couldn’t even begin to understand how that man could simply ignore everything. “Wonshik, let me go, damn it!” He tried elbowing Wonshik in the ribs or something, but the man was too damn strong.

“I’m afraid I cannot do that, Jaehwan,” Wonshik replied short of breath. Jaehwan might have looked small but he was _not_ weak, and Wonshik really needed to concentrate on holding on to him. He was just as angry at Taekwoon, but he knew anger never really solved anything.

Jaehwan’s expression darkened. “What if I promise to not touch him?”

Wonshik didn’t know if he could, or rather, should trust Jaehwan at the moment, but it wasn’t like he had too much of a choice. “Behave,” He warned, even as his entire being was protesting against letting Jaehwan go.

Jaehwan rubbed at the sore spots on his arms and shot Wonshik an unimpressed look. “Always,”

Taekwoon simply ignored the two as he wallowed in his self-pity and self-hatred. He knew there wasn’t much he could be doing to get Hakyeon back, and he was losing hope as the seconds ticked by of Hakyeon ever wanting to come back on his own terms. He really had screwed up.

“Why the hell are you silent? Don’t you have _anything_ to say?” Jaehwan crossed his arms across his chest as he fixed Taekwoon with a glare. “I don’t know what you did or said to your husband, but I saw the way he looked and I swear to everything you hold dear that I will not stand here and take your silence,” He was fuming.

Taekwoon let out a single laugh as he tucked his knees under his arms, feet rested on top of the couch. “I don’t know what you want me to say. I fucked up and now Hakyeon is gone, just gone,”

Wonshik’s head spun. Did he really just – no way. Was it really the same Jung Taekwoon who had come barging into the pub earlier claiming his husband was cheating on him? “Hyung?” he tried, tentative.

Taekwoon looked up from where his gaze was trained on a spot on the carpeted floor, the design seeming more interesting than the conversation he knew was going to be inevitable. “Yes?”

Jaehwan scrambled to close his jaw that had dropped open at Taekwoon’s confession.

“Hyung, what did you do?” Wonshik approached his friend quietly. He couldn’t handle the way he looked, so pale and so small as he tucked into himself on the couch. Where was the man who ran an empire? Where was the man who was always so damn intimidating and imposing?

Taekwoon didn’t know where to begin. “I fucked up. I drove him away and now I know he will not come back to me. I love him, Wonshik. I’ve always loved him. And look at me now. I ended up becoming exactly what my mother was always afraid of. Do you remember her, Wonshik? Do you?” He couldn’t help the tears that were starting to escape the corners of his eyes.

Wonshik kneeled on the floor in front of Taekwoon and placed his hands on top of his friend’s. “I do, hyung. I remember her, of course.”

“I became _him_ , Wonshik. How do I un-become him? How? This is what she was afraid of, wasn’t she? She knew he would create a monster out of me,” He didn’t know when he started to outright sob, but he couldn’t care less that there was an Omega he didn’t even know the name of standing in his living room, witnessing his breakdown.

“You’re not a monster,”

Both Wonshik and Taekwoon startled at that, neither of them expecting such words out of Jaehwan’s mouth.

Taekwoon shook his head. “You’re wrong,” He muttered when he collected his thoughts and his tears subsided.

“Mr Jung, I’m not saying this to appease you simply, but I’m saying it because you truly aren’t one. If you were as bad, you wouldn’t be feeling the guilt you are right now. You’ve fucked up, sure – oh, shut up. I can swear all I want. I’m not a doll to sit all prim and proper – but you’re human, and I’m sure if you correct your ways, your husband would be forgiving enough,”

“What if I’ve broken it beyond repair?” Taekwoon’s voice was small as he asked. It was a question that hurt him physically to ask out loud. It was a very large possibility, of course. Any person could only take so much before they became hardened before they gave up. And Hakyeon, he had tried for so long already. The sigh that left Taekwoon was inevitable.

“That isn’t a question either of us can answer, hyung,” Wonshik supplied. “That’s something you need to work on between the two of you, and nobody else. You’ve broken his trust, you’ve questioned his loyalty. We have no standing in any of this.”

“What if he doesn’t want to talk to me? I don’t even know where he is,”

Jaehwan sighed. “He’s safe, in case you’re wondering. But, maybe you should give him some time to calm down before you try contacting him,”

“That’s the least I can do,”

 

~>▲<~

 

 

“Hey, he’ll be alright,” Hongbin placed his hand softly on Sanghyuk’s shoulder, effectively startling him. They’d just about managed to get Hakyeon to settle into Sanghyuk’s – well, bed. It was not without protest. Hongbin was apologetic, but he really couldn’t take him home. Not unless he wanted to put both of them in trouble.

Hongbin had been surprised the second he stepped foot into Sanghyuk’s home. It shook him slightly, and he couldn’t help the guilt that had weighed him down because he knew, somewhere along the way, he was one of the main reasons for Sanghyuk having left his family, his comforts. Sanghyuk had been quick to reassure him, of course, that it was absolutely not his fault, but Hongbin couldn’t help apologising.

Sanghyuk appraised the hand on his shoulder until Hongbin removed it. “Do you truly believe that?” He looked out into the streets of Seoul wondering vaguely how in the world he ended up with Hakyeon in his skeleton of what he could hardly call home.

Hongbin pursed his lips. Well, frankly, he did not. But he also was aware of just how mentally strong Hakyeon was. He wasn’t someone who could break easily, regardless of how fragile he looked. “He knows very well how to take care of himself,”

Sanghyuk bit his lip. “Is he going to take care of himself, or is he just going to bear it all, the way he’s been doing all along? I can’t believe or even begin to understand what kind of harshness he’s been hearing all his life. How long has he been putting up with such unacceptable behaviour? What kind of a life is that? I just wan – ”

“You know,” Hongbin cut him off. It was starting to tick him off how Sanghyuk was talking about it as if he knew it all. “neither of you bothered mentioning to me how or when you guys met. I know Hakyeon and I know Taekwoon even better to know that Hakyeon probably did not meet you on his own terms,” He narrowed his eyes, suspicion flowing off of him in waves. There was something a little too fishy. “I don’t get why you’re so interested in him. You don’t even know anything about him,”

Sanghyuk averted his gaze. “I met him at the supermarket I have started working at,” It wasn’t a lie. It simply wasn’t the whole truth.

Hongbin raised an eyebrow. “How much of an idiot do you take me to be?”

Sanghyuk sighed. He didn’t know how to stall for time. “I met him at a Wedding. I had taken up a job as a waiter for the night. I don’t remember who it was the Wedding of, but I’d seen him look absolutely miserable and I wanted to see him smile just a bit,”

“That’s such a rare sight,” Hongbin muttered. He looked up. “And?” he prompted.

 “And I saw the way Mr Jung treated him, of course. I recognised Mr Jung and realised who the man was – Mr Cha, I mean. I’ve always heard from my parents how much they respect Mr Jung for being such a young man and yet running the business so well, and how his husband is the perfect little omega anybody could wish for. I realised how everything was just an image they portrayed for the public eye a while later

The older Mr Cha was crass. I’ve only seen the man a few times at the company when he’d visit for some collaboration and such he’d need to discuss with father, and I had always learnt to hold the man in high regards because of the way he dealt with things. But after that night, I may have lost my respect for him. He did not look like he cared about his son at all,”

“Did you speak to Hakyeon that night?” Hongbin tilted his head, interested.

“I did, yes,” Sanghyuk nodded slowly. He wasn’t about to go into details of how they even came about to having a conversation, no. “On the balcony. I’d gone out to get some fresh air and he’d been there, alone.”

“I feel like there’s a lot you’re omitting out because Hakyeon hyung isn’t the kind of person to open up about his troubles ever, especially to a stranger, an alpha, no less,”

“I may have managed to piss him off that night, actually,” Sanghyuk smiled sheepishly, a hand springing to rub at the back of his neck.

“You did?” Hongbin was surprised.

 “I was merely suggesting something when he understood me wrong. He thought I was telling him what to do and what not to. He basically told me to shove it and stop being so entitled just because of my secondary gender,”

“Oh, that makes more sense,”

“Umm hmm,”

They stood, facing the skyline of Seoul and let the cold of the winter night cool their minds slightly. A silence settled in between, but it wasn’t uncomfortable as such. It was filled with questions and conversations, all of which they ignored in favour of just revelling in the slight friendship that was beginning to forge its way.

“I’ll need to get going soon. I’m pretty sure my parents will already serving my head on the platter for breakfast when the sun rises,” Hongbin muttered drily, breaking the false sense of security they had somehow created unintentionally.

Sanghyuk hummed low before a sudden thought struck him. “Wait. What if Mr Cha wakes up in the middle and panics? I wouldn’t know what to do. He already seems to think I’m the root of all his problems,”

“Sanghyuk, why would he think that?”

“Because I have a feeling the entire reason they fought was because of me,” Sanghyuk replied sadly, his head bowed. “I may have touched him at the supermarket, held on to his wrist. I didn’t think of it much, but I just wanted to take him out to coffee or something,”

Hongbin’s jaw dropped open. “And he just let you touch him?” He longed to kick at the shins of Sanghyuk. “Were you out of your mind, asking him to coffee? And you said you saw how he was treated already. Did you think his husband would be okay with you wooing Hakyeon like that?”

Sanghyuk held his hands up in defence. “Hey, I wasn’t really thinking at the time. I told you. I just wanted to see him smile. Is that too much to ask for?”

“Yes, Sanghyuk. It might actually be too much,”

 

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos will be most appreciated <3 Actually, #CommentsOverKudos tyvm
> 
> Can you tell what inspired me to start writing this? The first chapter is pretty much based on it ~
> 
> Also, my A/B/O verse works this way.  
> The omegas of the high society don't have many rights, their oppression is loosely based on women in the Victorian era, although this fic is set in the modern times.  
> The omega husband can only call his Alpha in public, a sort of respectful way to address their partner. In the confines of their home, it depends on what the Alpha would like to be addressed as. 
> 
> I don't think I'll be writing any smut, because I do not condone cheating or any such activity. If and ever smut will be included, it will only be after all the relationships are clear as to where they stand. 
> 
> Of course, as I did mention it is based on the Victorian Era, there may be dubcon and noncon vibes at certain points, but then again, there will be nothing explicit written because again, I do not condone. 
> 
> Keep enjoying!


End file.
